(Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday expressed thanks to the U.S. Navy for helping Korean sailors defeat pirates off the Somali coast in late October and reaffirmed that it opposes any forms of terrorist acts. "We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. This the first time DPRK official media has reported details of the incident, in which a DPRK ship was hijacked off the Somali coast at the end of last month. The DPRK-registered cargo ship DIA HONGA DAN was hijacked by seven armed pirates disguised as guards on Oct. 29. The crew of the hijacked ship successfully seized weapons from pirates and defeated seven of them and regained control of the ship with the help of a U.S. Navy destroyer and a helicopter the next day.
"This case serves as a symbol of DPRK-U.S. cooperation in the struggle against terrorism," the KCNA said. "It is the consistent, principled stance of the DPRK government to oppose all forms of terrorism," it said, adding that "we will continue to render international cooperation in the fight against terrorism in the future".