V15
| Enigma ID | V15 |
| Name | |
| Frequencies | 657, 3320, 6400 |
| Status | Inactive |
| Voice | Female (Korean) |
| Emission mode | AM |
| Location |
North Korea
|
| Activity pages |
V15 is a North Korean number station. It operates as a program on the domestic broadcaster Pyongyang Broadcasting Station (Korean: 평양방송 pyeong-yangbangsong).
Transmission format:
| Musical introduction | Recipient introduction | 문제를부르겠습니다 (munjeleul buleu gessseubnida) |
497페이지 34번호, 565페이지 55번호, ... (497peiji 34beonho, 565peiji 55beonho, ...) |
다시부르겠습니다 (dasi buleu gessseubnida) |
497페이지 34번호, 565페이지 55번호, ... (497peiji 34beonho 565peiji 55beonho, ...) |
이상입니다 (i-sangibnida) |
| "Let's call the problem" | "Page #, number #" | "I call it again" | "Page #, number #" | "That is all" |
V15 broadcasts are presented as lists of assignments for university students. The muslcal introduction and the recipient introduction are schedule-specific; the latter consists of a 3-digit agent number and a subject (mathematics, chemistry, physics, etc.). The pages and numbers are spoken as tens and hundreds, with pages between 100 and 999 inclusive, and numbers - between 10 and 100 inclusive.
History
Prior to the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000, the Pyongyang Broadcasting Station had carried coded messages, albeit using a format completely different from today's.[1]
The first broadcast of the revived V15 took place on June 23, 2016. The event, reported to the public by South Korean intelligence, was widely covered in world news.[2] South Korea's Ministry of Unification has subsequently criticized North Korea for the decision to revive V15.[3]
On December 21, 2016, the Pyongyang Broadcasting Station began transmitting in FM, making V15 possibly the only legitimate number station to have ever broadcast on the FM band. The frequencies are usually targeted by jamming from South Korea.
On May 5, 2018, in the context of warming relationship between North and South Korea, North Korea switched time zones and abandoned Pyongyang Time (UTC+8:30) to return to Korea Standard Time (UTC+9).[4] As a result, the V15 schedules shifted 30 minutes earlier, remaining at the same local time in North Korea.
V15 broadcasts took place consistently every week until June 27, 2019. Since then, the station has broadcast only on September 19, 2019; November 9, 2019; March 7, 2020; and March 12, 2020. It has not been heard since then.
References
- Toru Yamashita, Numbers stations on the Korean peninsula [accessed July 27, 2019]
- Numbers & Oddities - Issue #226 (July 2016), p. 14 [accessed November 30, 2019]
- Gov't condemns N. Korea's resumption of encrypted number broadcasting - Yonhap News Agency [accessed July 27, 2019]
- Time in North Korea - Wikipedia [accessed May 5, 2018]