U.S. Seeks Talks With N. Korea on Copter Crew

U.S. officials moved to meet with North Korean counterparts at the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom today to press for the return of two U.S. pilots who went down just north of the South Korean border in a helicopter Saturday.

Officials still have no information on the condition or whereabouts of the crew members, Army Chief Warrant Officers David Hilemon of Clarksville, Tenn., and Bobby Hall of Brooksville, Fla. Nor do they know if the unarmed OH-58 spotter helicopter was shot down after straying into North Korean territory or if it developed mechanical problems.

But they were pressing for a meeting through the U.N. Military Armistice Commission at the 151-mile border between North and South Korea.

“The safety and well-being of our crew members is our biggest concern,” said Jim Coles, spokesman for the U.N. command in Seoul.

Meanwhile, officials began analyzing the region’s weather conditions, terrain and other factors in an attempt to reconstruct how the helicopter strayed into North Korean territory. Although there are clear markers delineating the border between North and South Korea, they may be buried by a yard of snow. In addition, the terrain is said to be extremely rough and difficult to distinguish from mountain to mountain.

Although it has been nearly 17 years since the last U.S. aircraft strayed into North Korean territory, “we are looking at what we need to put into our standard operating procedures to minimize the potential for this sort of thing to happen again,” Coles said.

North Korea appeared to be taking a measured approach, raising hopes that the incident might be resolved quickly through diplomatic efforts.

In 1968, Pyongyang paraded crew members of the captured Pueblo spy ship before TV cameras, coercing them into criticizing the U.S. government. But it did not appear likely that the regime would take similar measures this time.

U.S. officials pointed out that neither side had placed its military forces on alert in response to the incident.

Immediately after the incident, North Korea had referred to the U.S. copter as an “enemy” aircraft shot down in a “self-defensive measure.”

But Clinton Administration officials said U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), who is on a congressional visit to Pyongyang, reported that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju later described the incident as “unfortunate”--a phrase that seemed pointedly mild for such a situation.

There was no further angry rhetoric or threat of retaliation.

At the same time, a senior U.S. official said the Administration is “not looking at this so much as a national security crisis” but as a diplomatic problem.

“We are focusing primarily on getting the crew back,” he said.

Analysts said the relatively low-key treatment of the incident appeared to reflect a new relationship between the two governments after the beginning of serious U.S.-North Korea negotiations this fall over economic aid and nuclear weapons issues.

In those talks, North Korea has agreed to eventually halt its nuclear weapons program. The United States, in return, has pledged to arrange for alternative nuclear reactors that would provide fuel oil energy for Pyongyang and to move toward normalization of diplomatic relations.

The terse statements by Administration officials Saturday followed a flurry of telephone conversations among Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Defense Secretary William J. Perry and Sandy Berger, the President’s deputy national security adviser.

To intensify its diplomatic pressure, the Administration also sought help through the North Korean mission to the United Nations in New York, the diplomatic back channel that it has used to arrange broader diplomatic talks with Pyongyang.

Although U.S. officials insisted that the United States is not trying to make the return of the two pilots a condition for continuation of the normalization talks, they pointed out that the use of the “New York channel,” as it has become known, signaled that Washington regards the situation as extremely significant.

“We want them returned,” Leon E. Panetta, the White House chief of staff, said on CNN. “It’s ominous that this incident took place. This should not have happened.”

The U.S. helicopter was said to have been on a routine training mission over the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea when U.S. air bases and other planes lost contact with it.

With unusual candor, Perry confirmed Saturday that the helicopter had “strayed into North Korean airspace” and had gone down in Kumgang County, a few miles north of the DMZ. The incident occurred at 11:03 a.m. Saturday local time.

In a statement, Perry said, “We have conflicting reports about the incident and will provide more information as soon as we can confirm details.”

Officials disputed suggestions that the helicopter might have been on an intelligence-gathering mission.

The State Department said Richardson, who arrived in Pyongyang on a congressional visit just after the helicopter went down, has asked the government in Pyongyang to find and release the two U.S. pilots.

He was also serving as a diplomatic liaison with the North Korean Foreign Ministry.

The two helicopter pilots are members of the 4th Battalion, A Company of the Army’s 501st Aviation Regiment, based at Camp Page in Chunchon, South Korea. The Pentagon said families of the two pilots had been notified that they are missing.

Despite the low-key mood in Washington, Administration officials said privately that they are concerned that the North Koreans have not provided any information about the crew’s whereabouts.

Although Pyongyang has every incentive to release the pilots quickly, such behavior would still represent a turnabout. Over the last 34 years, breaches of North Korean airspace have drawn hostile reactions from the Pyongyang government, often involving military retaliation.

Analysts said Saturday that it is easy for helicopter pilots to become lost while flying near the demilitarized zone.

Watanabe reported from Seoul and Pine reported from Washington.