SOUTH-KOREA   –   South Korean officials have criticized North Korea after it apparently resurrected a Cold War-era method of contacting spies.

In recent weeks, mysterious strings of numbers have twice been broadcast over the radio from the North. A spokesman for the South’s Unification Ministry said it couldn’t be sure about North Korea’s “hidden intentions”. But it urged the North to “desist from such outdated practices”. The numbers were picked up on Radio Pyongyang last Friday, officials have said.  South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted government sources as saying the 12-minute broadcast began shortly after midnight, with a female voice saying: “I will give review work to No. 27 exploration agents.”

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