Hacker Allegedly Infiltrates North Korean Radio Station, Plays 'The Final Countdown'

UPDATE: Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 at 10:05 p.m. EST: The Jester, a prominent hacker, has reached out to International Business Times to say that he was not responsible for the hijack of a North Korean radio station. His tweet was meant to point out that someone had taken hold of the station to play the “The Final Countdown” by the band Europe. The original story now reflects that.

Original story:

A famous hacker who goes by the name “The Jester” pointed out on Twitter that it appears as if someone hijacked a North Korean radio station to play “The Final Countdown” by Swedish rock band Europe last week.

The song appears to have played on a shortwave 50-kilowatt radio station in the city of Kanggye. The station is located near North Korea’s border with China and broadcasts at 6400kHz which is between AM and FM radio. He posted an alleged recording of the one-hit wonder coming across a crackly radio.

Strategic Sentinel, a Washington D.C.-based intelligence firm has said that the station has broadcast encrypted messages — and noted that that the cryptic broadcasts usually come before weapons tests.

The hacker’s identity is unknown, but he has been associated with several high-level hacks and pranks. The Jester claimed credit for splashing a warning across the front page of a website that is Russia’s version of the State Department last year, according to CNN.

“Comrades! We interrupt regular scheduled Russian Foreign Affairs Website programming to bring you the following important message,” he wrote. “Knock it off. You may be able to push around nations around you, but this is America. Nobody is impressed.”

Taking advantage of a vulnerability in the Russian site, he made it appear as if he hacked the site but didn't. The stunt fooled the Russian government and several news sites like CNN and Fox News.

The Jester has also taken credit for hacks against WikiLeaks and radical jihadist websites.

The Jester calls himself “a patriotic hacker” and claimed in a 2012 interview with a University of Southern Maine class that he was a U.S. veteran. The Jester said he doesn't work with the U.S. government in his hacks. The hacker’s logo also made an easter egg appearance in the show “Mr. Robot.”