North Korea recently rescinded permission for Amateur Radio operation from within its borders.
North Korea Asks P5/4L4FN to QRT
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 2, 2002--The only Amateur Radio station active from North Korea has been ordered off the air. Ed Giorgadze, 4L4FN, had been operating for the past year as P5/4L4FN from Pyongyang. The ARRL subsequently accredited SSB and RTTY operation of P5/4L4FN for DXCC.
"This really hits the ham community hard," QSL manager Bruce Paige, KK5DO, said in a news release. "I, for one, was looking forward to a satellite contact on AO-40. I know that many of you were still awaiting your first QSO."
Paige said that on Friday, November 22, Giorgadze was called into a meeting with the "Radio Regulation Board" without any explanation, and he was politely asked to quit all transmissions and pack all his radio equipment. "Saturday, he spent all day on the roof disassembling his antennas and packing boxes."
Calling the situation "unfortunate" and "the worst possible thing," Paige said North Korean government officials later came by and sealed all of the boxes. When Giorgadze leaves North Korea on December 10 for two weeks of vacation, "he is to take everything with him out of the country," Paige indicated.
Newington, CT: Home of the ARRL.
ARRL: American Radio Relay League, organization of amateur radio (Ham) operators.
P5: Prefix of call signs in Peoples' Republic of Korea.
4L4: Prefix of call sign for hams in the Republic of Georgia.
P5/4L4LFN: Standard method of designating ham (from Georgia) operating in foreign country (PRK).
SSB: Single sideband. The predominant mode of voice communication on the ham bands.
RTTY: Radioteletype.
QSL: Postcard confirming contact.
QSL manager: Organizes exchange of American QSLs with foreign ham stations.
AO-40: Amsat Oscar 40. A recent satellite for amateur use built by the amateur satellite organizaition AMSAT.
QSO: A conversation or contact between hams on the air.