{"id":6210,"date":"2013-04-13T08:58:09","date_gmt":"2013-04-13T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=6210"},"modified":"2013-04-17T05:42:35","modified_gmt":"2013-04-17T09:42:35","slug":"north-korean-numbers-station-detected-possible-submarine-instructions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/north-korean-numbers-station-detected-possible-submarine-instructions\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korean numbers station detected; possible submarine instructions?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The website Intellihub.com<\/a>\u00a0features an Op Ed piece regarding a recently detected numbers station supposedly originating from North Korea. The station, reported by a ham radio operator, is in single-side band and\u00a0adjacent\u00a0to the Voice of Korea.<\/p>\n

Below is an excerpt from this Op Ed piece; note my comments following:
\n\"NorthKoreaMap\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Source: Intellihub.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Within hours of South Korean news sources breaking a\u00a0story\u00a0that several Sang-Ho class submarines had disappeared from their North Korean bases,\u00a0a ham radio operator named Tim, picked up a \u201cnumbers station\u201d broadcasting on the same frequency as \u201cThe Voice of Korea\u201d propaganda station. [check out our recent post<\/a>]<\/em> \u00a0What makes this even more interesting is that at the tail end of the numbers transmission there was a long duration digital transmission as well.<\/p>\n

So what makes this number station significant is the proximity in timing to the disappearance of the San-Ho class submarines, as well as the digital transmission.<\/p>\n

[…]What is more significant is the digital signal at the end of the transmission.\u00a0 Digital transmissions such as this one may indicate the presence of a\u00a0burst transmission which contains a compressed and encrypted message bound for some covert force, somewhere.\u00a0 Typically a burst transmission is used to minimize the download time at the end point to prevent discovery.\u00a0 The unusual part of this potential burst transmission is being attached to a numbers station as well as the length and the power of the broadcast.\u00a0 Normal burst transmissions are in the one second to two second range.\u00a0 This transmission was in the 10 to 15 second range which is almost unheard of, unless the end point is a submarine.<\/p>\n

[…]The ham operator who picked up this particular transmission was located in the Midwest of the United States, and he reported the transmission was received 4 by 5 indicating a significant power was used to send the transmission.\u00a0 That level of power coupled with the length and possible submarine end point opens up a new and alarming tangent to this escalating conflict. It is important to point out that the numbers are being read in Spanish but that is typically done to confuse the original source of the transmission.\u00a0 In this case the transmission was detected on a upper side band of the AM range used by the Voice of Korea so while the numbers are Spanish the transmission does appear to originate in North Korea.\u00a0 That fact coupled with the missing submarines seems to provide evidence of the nature of the transmission despite being in Spanish.\u00a0 Its also important to note that the numbers being in Spanish could also be used to employ a different set of codes in the operatives code books.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Short digital bursts, as they describe, are not necessarily that uncommon since the Cuban numbers station,HM01, has been doing this for years<\/a>. \u00a0(Indeed, perhaps North Korea got a little help from Havana?) You can hear audio from HM01 here<\/a> and here<\/a>\u00a0and learn how to decode RDFT (HM01’s digital mode) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read the full opinion article on Intellihub.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Dan for the tip!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The website Intellihub.com\u00a0features an Op Ed piece regarding a recently detected numbers station supposedly originating from North Korea. The station, reported by a ham radio operator, is in single-side band and\u00a0adjacent\u00a0to the Voice of Korea. Below is an excerpt from this Op Ed piece; note my comments following: (Source: Intellihub.com) Within hours of South Korean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,1114,172],"tags":[474,1859,4088,724,1609,445,1607,727],"class_list":["post-6210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-digital-modes","category-numbers-stations","tag-north-korea","tag-north-korean-numbers-station","tag-numbers-stations","tag-shortwave-numbers-station","tag-shortwave-numbers-stations","tag-spy-numbers","tag-spy-numbers-stations","tag-voice-of-korea"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1Ca","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20113,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/north-korean-numbers-station-in-the-press\/","url_meta":{"origin":6210,"position":0},"title":"North Korean numbers station in the press","author":"Thomas","date":"July 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been offline and off-grid this week and have accumulated quite the backlog of email. One news item that caught the attention of a large number of readers (thanks to all for the tips--!) was North Korean spy numbers.\u00a0I'm very curious if any readers have logged and recorded this station--if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8230,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/reuters-beethoven-and-numbers-on-korean-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":6210,"position":1},"title":"Reuters: “Beethoven and numbers on Korean shortwave”","author":"Thomas","date":"December 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Numbers stations get some spotlight in the wake of Jang Song Thaek's removal from power: (Source: Reuters) Dec 9 (Reuters) - As a scratchy rendition of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No 8 fades into a sea of shortwave radio static, a robotic female voice starts speaking in Korean. \"Number 1913, number\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FlagNorthKorea","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/FlagNorthKorea1-300x215.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20566,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/numbers-stations-and-the-two-koreas\/","url_meta":{"origin":6210,"position":2},"title":"Numbers Stations and the two Koreas","author":"Thomas","date":"August 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: 38 North via Mike Barraclough) A little after midnight, early on the morning of July 15, as most of the Korean peninsula slept, were North Korean spies up late listening to the radio? This was the big question after a strange sequence of numbers was read out on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25219,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/north-korea-activates-numbers-station-prior-to-potential-nuclear-test\/","url_meta":{"origin":6210,"position":3},"title":"North Korea activates numbers station?","author":"Thomas","date":"April 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who've shared this particular item from The National Interest: North Korea Broadcasts Really Strange Messages As New Nuclear Weapons Test Looms Pyongyang is reportedly broadcasting encrypted messages reminiscent of those used to contact spies during the Cold War. [...]As North Korea\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25263,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/how-to-find-the-pyongyang-numbers-station-v15-including-an-off-air-recording\/","url_meta":{"origin":6210,"position":4},"title":"How to find the Pyongyang numbers station (V15) including an off-air recording","author":"Thomas","date":"April 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey\u00a0(our resident North Korea specialist) \u00a0who shares the following comment regarding our recent post about the re-activation of the North Korean Numbers station: The Pyongyang numbers (designated V15) have either become less regular or changed their schedule since March. Its been a few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5575,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/shortwave-radio-recordings-listen-to-cuban-spy-numbers-station-hm01\/","url_meta":{"origin":6210,"position":5},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: Listen to Cuban Spy Numbers Station HM01","author":"Thomas","date":"February 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Numbers stations have always been a dark oddity that pop up from time-to-time in the course of shortwave radio listening. There is unquestionably an air of mystery and intrigue which surrounds them.\u00a0With the release of the movie The Numbers Station, many non-SWLers may be enticed to explore the HF bands.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WFL_015","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-300x202.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}