North Korea halts radio broadcasts and curbs exchanges with South: Yonhap news agency
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A South Korean soldier stands guard in the truce village inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
REUTERS
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SEOUL - North Korea stopped operating a radio station used to send coded messages to its agents in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency said on Jan 13, the latest sign the isolated country is shaking up the way it handles relations with Seoul.
North Korea has been stepping up pressure on Seoul in recent weeks, declaring it the “principal enemy”
Radio Pyongyang, known as a numbers station, in the past broadcast mysterious coded numbers presumed to be targeted at Pyongyang’s spies operating in South Korea. Its website was also down on Jan 13.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, addressing a year-end meeting of his ruling party, ordered a “decisive policy change” in relations with the South, instructing the military to be prepared to pacify and occupy the South in the event of a crisis.
Early on Jan 13, North Korea announced plans to dissolve organisations in charge of civilian exchanges with South Korea.
State media KCNA reported a decision “to readjust all relevant organisations... including the North Side Committee for Implementing June 15 Joint Declaration, the North Headquarters of the Pan-national Alliance for Korea’s Reunification”.
North and South Korea remain technically at war after the 1950 to 1953 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and tensions are running high.
Seoul-based news outlet NK News said on Jan 12 that several North Korean propaganda sites could not be accessed more than 24 hours after they went offline.
The websites of Uriminzokkiri, DPRK Today, Arirang Meari, Tongil Voice, Ryomyong and Ryugyong have been down since at least the morning of Jan 11, it said. REUTERS
