Meanwhile, a U.S. Air Force F-16 takes off Monday on the first sortie of a week-long operational readiness exercise at Osan air base, South Korea.
About 9:30 a.m. Pyongyang time Thursday, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station transmitted the following message:
We inform all soldiers and residents! This is an air raid warning. This is an air raid warning. This is an air raid warning. Military units and units of all levels must quickly take measures to prevent damage from the enemy’s air strikes. This is an air raid warning. This is an air raid warning. This is an air raid warning. Military units and units of all levels must quickly take measures to prevent damage from the enemy’s air strikes. This is the Korean People’s Army Broadcasting Station.
An hour passed before KCBS followed up that report with this:
This is the Korean People’s Army Broadcasting Station. We inform all residents and soldiers: The air raid warning is lifted. The air raid warning is lifted. The air raid warning is lifted.
Heck of a way to start your day, no?
In the past, such warnings have been restricted to a cable-distributed system piped into homes, not over the public airwaves. The move suggests North Korea’s evident concern over recent B-52 flights, U.S. intelligence analysts say.