North Korea’s state radio station began broadcasting encrypted messages early Sunday morning, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Radio Pyongyang reportedly made a rather odd announcement shortly after midnight. The announcer read out a random series of pages and numbers. She then explained that she was “giving review work in metal engineering to No. 21 expedition agents.”
North Korea watchers believe that the messages are codes that Pyongyang uses to communicate with agents abroad. Sending out mysterious messages could also be a ruse designed to spook the South Koreans.
The book cipher tactic was used regularly during the Cold War. North Korean spies in South Korea received orders via encrypted radio broadcasts. North Korean operatives used specific reference books to decode the messages and carry out their assigned tasks.
North Korea stopped making such broadcasts after the North and the South met at a landmark summit in 2000, after which time, the relationship between North Korea and South Korea began deteriorating significantly, most notably because of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and the consistently aggressive rhetoric directed at Seoul.
Amid growing tension, Pyongyang resuming its peculiar broadcasts.
Between June 24 and Sept. 25, North Korea made eight of these encrypted broadcasts. After taking a short break, Pyongyang is once again sending out suspicious messages.
South Korea and the U.S. are on high alert right now. North Korea conducted a nuclear test of unprecedented power Sept. 9, and evidence suggests that Pyongyang may be preparing for an encore within the next day or so.
Oct. 9 is the 10th anniversary of North Korea’s first nuclear test, and Oct. 10 is the anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea. North Korea rarely ever lets major events pass without putting on a show.
North Korea may also be planning a spectacle for a strategic meeting between the U.S. and South Korea scheduled for Oct. 20 or the U.S. elections in November.
Increased activity is detected around both the Punggye-ri test site and the Sohae Satellite Launching Station. The former is where North Korea tests nuclear weapons, and the latter is where it tests rocket technology capable of being applied to long-range ballistic missiles.
“Chances are high that the North will conduct its sixth nuclear detonation or test-fire a ballistic missile ahead of the anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party,” a South Korean defense ministry official told reporters.
“The military will maintain heightened vigilance against any provocations,” the official added.
U.S. Pacific Command Chief Adm. Harry Harris reportedly told U.S. troops at Yokota Air Base in Japan that they should be “ready to fight.” “We must consider every possible step to defend the U.S. homeland and our allies,” he added.
The ball is in Pyongyang’s court, and everyone is waiting anxiously to see what Kim Jong Un’s explosive next play will be.
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