đź“…This fact may be outdated
This fact is accurate but refers to a specific incident in December 2013. North Korea sent a threatening fax to South Korea's defense ministry in response to anti-North Korean demonstrations in Seoul. While true, it's a historical event rather than a current practice.
North Korea uses a fax machine to send threats to South Korea.
North Korea Once Threatened South Korea By Fax Machine
Picture this: It's 2013, and North Korea wants to send a threatening message to South Korea. Do they use encrypted communications? A secure hotline? Nope. They grab a fax machine—the same technology your dentist's office uses to send appointment reminders—and threaten "merciless retaliation without warning."
On December 20, 2013, North Korea's defense ministry sent a fax to their South Korean counterparts warning of impending destruction. The threat came in response to anti-North Korean protests in Seoul where demonstrators burned photos of Kim Jong Un on the second anniversary of his father's death. Rather than pick up a phone or issue a press release, Pyongyang's military strategists decided the best way to strike fear into their enemies was through a machine most people thought died with Blockbuster Video.
But here's where it gets truly absurd: South Korea didn't just receive the fax and call it a day. They faxed back. A defense ministry spokesperson announced they'd sent a reply "vowing to react sternly to any provocations." The Korean Peninsula, one of the world's most heavily militarized borders, had devolved into a fax war.
Why Fax Machines?
This wasn't just North Korea being quirky. The two Koreas maintained dedicated communication channels between their governments, and apparently fax machines were part of that Cold War-era infrastructure. When you're technically still at war (the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty), you keep whatever reliable communication lines you have open—even if they involve thermal paper and dial tones.
The fax exchange highlighted the bizarre reality of inter-Korean relations: a mix of cutting-edge cyber operations and technology that belonged in a museum. North Korea has sophisticated hacking capabilities and can launch cyberattacks on global targets, but when it came to official government-to-government threats, they apparently trusted a fax machine more than the internet.
The Aftermath
The 2013 fax threats weren't an isolated incident of outdated communication. Over the years, North and South Korea have maintained various direct communication channels, though they've been cut and restored multiple times. In June 2020, North Korea severed all communication lines with South Korea—including phone lines and liaison office connections—over activists sending anti-regime propaganda leaflets across the border.
These days, North Korea's threats arrive through state media announcements, official statements with colorful language about "deadly force" and "prompt physical strikes," and occasionally through propaganda campaigns. The fax machine era appears to be over, replaced by more modern (though equally theatrical) methods of saber-rattling.
Still, the image of two nations threatening each other via fax remains one of the most perfectly absurd moments in modern geopolitical history. It's a reminder that even in the age of nuclear weapons and cyber warfare, sometimes the most bizarre diplomatic incidents involve technology your office threw out twenty years ago.