It reminds of the U 2 incident only as a reference-point, not as a snugly-fitting analogy to be sure. On May 1. 1960 a US reconnaissance plane was shot down th the former Soviet Union and. In the furore that followed. Moscow cancelled an imminent superpower summit in Paris.

On December 17. 1994 in an entirely different setting of a cold war-free world. North Korea, a communist country — if that means anything by way of a remote resemblance with the past — downed an observation helicopter that strayed into her airspace. IHlot Bobby Wayne Hall survived but his co-pilot died. It took 13 days of intense .and delicate negotiations between Clinton emissary Thomas Hubbard and F’yongyang authorities to secure Halls' release.

We are very happy over the wonderful reunion that Bobby Wayne has had with his family. At the inter-state level the outcome is highly welcome as It helps normalise Washington-Pyongyang relations. Snort of apologising to North Korea, the US has expressed a sincere regret for the Incident which it put down to a navigational error. North Korea said it released US pilot Hall on a humanitarian ground after the “admission of his crime of illegally intruding" into her airspace.

The moral of this story is the respect shown to an internation d norm relating to the inviolate and sacrosanct nature ol a country's territorial integrity. Even as the lone superpower in the world, the US kept its cool and handled the affair in due deference to the sensitivity involved. Tills reflected well on US diplomacy under stress.