NKorea grateful to US for helping its sailors fight off Somali pirates

North Korea expressed rare gratitude to the United States Thursday for helping one of its ships repel pirates, the latest sign of improving relations between the longtime foes as the North scales back its nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. Navy's help last week to North Korean crewmen fighting off Somali pirates was unprecedented in the half century of hostility between the Cold War foes, a spokesman for the Naval Historial Center in Washington said.

The Navy boarded the North Korean ship Dai Hong Dan to provide medical assistance at the crew's invitation after they had already overpowered and detained all pirates in the waters off Somalia.

The North's Korean Central News Agency hailed the rare maritime collaboration as a "symbol of cooperation" between the two countries "in the struggle against terrorism," and pledged to work with the international community to fight terrorism.

"The pirates' recent armed attack on our trading ship was a grave terrorist act perpetrated against a peaceful ship," KCNA said. "We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen."

Jack Green, a spokesman at the Naval Historial Center in Washington, says the U.S. help to North Korea at sea was unprecedented in recent history.

"They have had cold relationships between the two since the seizing of the USS Pueblo," Green said. "The U.S. is committed to keeping freedom of the seas for all users regardless of our relations, regardless of the owner all the vessels. It has to do with the Navy's strategy on maritime security."

In 1968 during the Cold War, North Korea captured the USS Pueblo while it was on an intelligence-gathering mission off the North Korean coast. They captured 82 crew members and held them for 11 months. The ship — the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power — remains on display as a tourist attraction in the North Korean capital.

The U.S. and the North have remained technically at war since the Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire. The U.S. led a coalition of U.N. forces in the three-year conflict, and 28,000 American troops remain deployed in South Korea.

In last week's incident, KCNA said seven pirates disguised as guards boarded the North Korean vessel on Oct. 29 and demanded the sailors pay them $15,000 and move the ship to the waters they want.

"The sailors, however, remained unperturbed under this dangerous situation created all of a sudden. They fought to beat back the pirates' attack," it said.

KCNA said the USS James E. Williams and a helicopter rushed to the scene and "helped the sailors in fighting, threatening the pirates over walkie-talkie."

The KCNA dispatch was the first reaction from North Korea.

It was the second time in two months that North Korea thank the United States — reflecting the friendlier mood between the former foes who have recently made progress in a prolonged standoff over the North's nuclear weapons programs.

The North shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor in July and this week, it began disabling the facility this week under a February deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

In September, the North's Foreign Ministry issued a statement thanking the U.S. for providing emergency relief supplies after the severest floods in decades devastated the impoverished nation.

The main U.S. nuclear envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said Friday last week that the U.S. military helped the North Korean ship as a goodwill gesture.

The United States is considering removing North Korea from the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism as a reward for shutting down and disable the Yongbyon nuclear reactor that produces plutonium for bombs.

North Korea tried to seize on the piracy standoff to accelerate its removal from the U.S. terror sponsors list.

"It is the consistent principled stand of the (North Korean) government to oppose all sorts of terrorism," KCNA said. "We will continue to render international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, in the future, too."

North Korea was put on the terror list for involvement in the 1987 bombing of a South Korean civilian jet that killed all 115 people aboard. The isolated communist nation has long demanded it be removed from the list, claiming that the designation is a sign of U.S. hostility.