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Radio Pyongyang Goes Off Air as North Shutters Agencies Handling South

Written: 2024-01-13 14:19:32Updated: 2024-01-13 15:29:47

Radio Pyongyang Goes Off Air as North Shutters Agencies Handling South

North Korea has been shuttering or reorganizing its agencies and bodies in charge of South Korean affairs following leader Kim Jong-un's declaration that he'd given up on the "hostile" South as a partner for reunification at a ruling party meeting last month.

North Korea's state-run Radio Pyongyang - which aired broadcasts targeting South Korean listeners - has been off-air since Friday afternoon. Its website was still down as of Saturday afternoon.

The suspension of Radio Pyongyang appears linked to the closing of agencies that handled interactions with South Korea, given that one such agency reportedly operated the station.

Radio Pyongyang had carried North Korea's revolutionary propaganda aimed at South Koreans since the 1960s. The so-called numbers station also broadcast formatted numbers to convey orders to North Korean agents operating in the South.

The North also erased the Uriminzokkiri or "We Are One" page from its overseas propaganda website Naenara, which uses North Korea's .kp domain. The page contained content that highlighted Korean reunification. 

Other websites targeting South Korean readers that use .com domains have also been unreachable since Wednesday. They are likely being closed or reorganized in line with the shuttering of agencies dealing with the South.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday that a meeting of officials in charge of "affairs with enemies" had decided to "readjust" several organizations dealing with the South, including the North Side Committee for Implementing June 15 Joint Declaration, the North Headquarters of the Pan-national Alliance for Korea's Reunification, the Consultative Council for National Reconciliation and the Council for the Reunification of Tangun's Nation.

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