On 23 January 1968 North Korean patrol boats supported by two

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...

fighters captured the USS ''Pueblo'' northeast of the North Korean island of Ung-do. The seizure of the ''Pueblo'' led to

President Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

ordering a

show of force A show of force is a military operation intended to warn (such as a warning shot) or to intimidate an opponent by showcasing a capability or will to act if one is provoked. Shows of force may also be executed by police forces and other armed, non ...

with a massive deployment of U.S. air and navy assets to Korea. The airlift and deployment of 200+ aircraft was code named ''Operation Combat Fox'' while the deployment of six aircraft carriers plus support vessels was code named

Operation Formation Star Operation Formation Star was the code name for the emergency re-deployment of U.S. Seventh Fleet warships to the Sea of Japan off the eastern coast of North Korea following that country's seizure of the in international waters on 23 January 196 ...

.Bolger (1991), Ch 3. The operations were supported by the partial mobilization of reservists for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

A-12 ''Oxcart'' reconnaissance overflights over North Korea were used to monitor a feared retaliatory mobilization of North Korean forces and when these flights revealed no mobilization or large scale deployments by North Korean forces, ''Operation Combat Fox'' forces were stood down.

Soviet response

Publicly, the Soviet Union responded by augmenting their naval forces in the Pacific and by sending a letter to the US president

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

on 3 February 1968 demanding that the United States scale back their build-up in the Sea of Japan. Privately however,

Alexei Kosygin Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Косы́гин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsɨɡʲɪn; – 18 December 1980) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premi ...

gave assurances to the US ambassador in Moscow (

Llewellyn Thompson Llewellyn E. "Tommy" Thompson Jr. (August 24, 1904 – February 6, 1972) was an American diplomat. He served in Sri Lanka, Austria, and for a lengthy period in the Soviet Union, where his tenure saw some of the most significant events of the Cold ...

) on 6 February 1968 that the Soviet Union had no intention to go to war over Kim Il Sung's provocation. As a response to this overture, Lyndon Johnson agreed to withdraw one unnamed vessel "somewhat southward". This exchange enabled Brezhnev to make a subsequent face-saving statement to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that the Soviet letter was answered by the Americans by withdrawing the USS ''Enterprise'' from DPRK's shores.

Units deployed

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organiza ...

Bolger (1991), p 72. - Osan AFB ''(Advance echelon sent from Fuchu AS)'' : 4th Tactical Fighter Wing - Kunsan AFB '' (72 F-4D Sent From

Seymour Johnson AFB Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for U.S. Navy Lt. Seymour A. Johnson, a test pilot from Goldsboro who died in an airplane crash near Norbeck, Maryland, ...

)'' :: 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron - Kwangju AFB :: 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron :: 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron : 18th Tactical Fighter Wing (-) - Osan AFB '' (12 F-105D Sent From Kadena AFB)'' :: 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron :: 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron : 19th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron - Taegu AFB '' (6 EB-66 Sent From

Shaw AFB Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdict ...

)'' :

64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 64th Aggressor Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 57th Adversary Tactics Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 64th AGRS is assigned 24 F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft, painted in camouflage schemes ide ...

- Kimpo AFB '' (24 F-102A Sent From Naha AFB)'' : 82nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - Suwon AFB '' (24 F-102A Sent From Naha AFB)'' : 318th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - Osan AFB '' (24 F-106A Sent From

McChord AFB McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwi ...

)'' :

356th Tactical Fighter Squadron The 356th Fighter Squadron is an active United States Air Force fighter squadron. It is assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing, being stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. It was reactivated in 2019 to operate the Lockheed Martin F-35 Li ...

- Kunsan AFB '' (14 F-4C Sent From Misawa AFB)'' : 558th Tactical Fighter Squadron - Taegu AFB '' (14 F-4C Sent From Cam Ranh Base AFB)''

Notes

References

* * * {{Refbegin

External links

The Second Korean War: A Forgotten Conflict 1966 - 1969
- Mark Felton Productions - August 13, 2020 Combat Fox 1968 in military history Conflicts in 1968 1968 in North Korea 1968 in the United States Military history of North Korea North Korea–United States relations Korean Demilitarized Zone January 1968 events in Asia 20th-century history of the United States Air Force