NORTH Korea must pay damages to the crew of a US spy ship captured by Pyongyang’s forces in 1968, a federal court in Washington has ruled.

The court ruled that surviving members of the USS Pueblo’s crew, who the US claims were tortured for 11 months after being captured by the North Korean navy, are owed compensation for their treatment.

It awarded them $1.15 billion (£820 million) for confinement and suffering and doubled the figure for punitive damages against Pyongyang.