I Was Wrong

It happens, on rare occasion. When the USS Porter came to the rescue of a hijacked North Korean ship off the coast of Somalia, I speculated that the North Korean public would never hear about the encounter, remaining blissfully ignorant of the fact that the United States fleet includes a single vessel other than the captured USS Pueblo.

Don Surber, took a different view, though, saying "this should help relations with North Korea":

Still, I have to think that there are a few Koreans who think a little more highly of the United States because of this.

Well, apparently it has helped relations:

In an extremely rare public expression, North Korea officially thanked the United States for helping the crew of a North Korean cargo ship hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast late last month, describing the rescue as a symbol of Washington-Pyongyang rapprochement.

"We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen. This case serves as a symbol of the DPRK [North Korea]-U.S. cooperation in the struggle against terrorism," the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Best word to describe the North Koreans, other than evil: unpredictable.