[USS Pueblo (AGER-2) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2))

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> Commander [Lloyd M. Bucher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_M._Bucher "Lloyd M. Bucher") was psychologically tortured, including being put through a [mock firing squad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock_execution "Mock execution") in an effort to make him confess. Eventually the North Koreans threatened to execute his men in front of him, and Bucher relented and agreed to "confess to his and the crew's transgression." Bucher wrote the confession since a "confession" by definition needed to be written by the confessor himself. They verified the meaning of what he wrote, but failed to catch the pun when he said "We paean the DPRK [North Korea]. We paean their great leader [Kim Il Sung](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Il_Sung "Kim Il Sung")".[[26]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2)#cite_note-26) (Bucher pronounced "*[paean](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paean "wikt:paean")*" as "*[pee on](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urination "Urination")*.")[[27]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2)#cite_note-27)
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1. Although CDR Bucher made this pun back in 1968, didn't North Koreans know or have Anglophones who've caught this pun? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "paean" is a noun and verb. But as a verb, it's ["*poetic*. Now *rare*."](https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/235768) Also, it doesn't make sense in the context of Bucher's sentence.
2. Why didn't they catch this pun after CDR Bucher pronounced "paean" as "pee on"?

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bFk2O.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bFk2O.jpg)