USS Pueblo: court orders North Korea to pay $2.5bn damages to spy ship's crew

• Crew of navy vessel seized in 1968 were tortured over 11 months
• Unclear how damages could be recovered from Pyongyang

A US court has ordered North Korea to pay damages to the crew and family of the spy ship USS Pueblo, who were tortured and mistreated for 11 months in 1968 after being captured by the North Korean navy.

The Washington federal court said that the surviving members of the crew and families of those now dead are owed compensatory damages for confinement and suffering of $1.15bn and doubled that for punitive damages against Pyongyang.