North Korean GPS manipulation disrupted dozens of planes and vessels,
South Korea says
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[November 09, 2024]
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military said North Korea
disrupted GPS signals from border areas for the second-straight day on
Saturday, affecting an unspecified number of flights and vessel
operations.
Tensions between the rival Koreas have escalated as North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un flaunts his advancing nuclear and missile program and
engages in electronic and psychological warfare, such as flying
thousands of balloons to drop trash and anti-South Korean propaganda
leaflets in the South.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean operations to
manipulate GPS signals were detected from around the western border city
of Kaesong and the nearby city of Haeju on Friday and Saturday, and said
the activities disrupted dozens of civilian aircraft and several
vessels.
While warning aircraft and vessels near western border areas, South
Korea’s military did not specify how North Korea was interfering with
GPS signals or detail the extent of disruptions.
“We urge North Korea to stop GPS interference provocations immediately
and strongly warn that it will be held fully accountable for any
resulting consequences,” the South’s joint chiefs said in a statement.
North Korea’s GPS signal disruptions and balloon campaigns highlight the
vulnerability of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, its main
transportation gateway, analyst Sukjoon Yoon recently wrote on the North
Korea-focused 38 North website.
The airport, which carries 56 million people and 3.6 million tons of
cargo annually, is less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from North Korea.
“No major aviation incidents have resulted to date, but GPS interference
can endanger commercial airlines flying in poor visibility, and it is a
violation of international conventions on navigational safety,” Yoon
wrote. He said that in 2024, North Korean trash balloons halted the
airport’s runway operations 12 different times for a total of 265
minutes.
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A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post flying
a national flag, seen from Paju, South Korea, on June 26, 2024. (AP
Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
Kim has shown more hostility this year toward Seoul’s conservative
government — which maintains a hard line on Pyongyang — with the
North abandoning its long-standing goals of reconciliation with its
war-divided rival and rewriting its constitution to cement South
Korea as a permanent adversary.
North Korea also blew up sections of its unused road and rail routes
linked with the South in October in a symbolic display of anger
toward Seoul, and opened November with a flight-test of a new
intercontinental ballistic missile to dial up pressure on
Washington.
South Korean officials say North Korean activities to disrupt GPS
signals from western border regions increased as the country began
launching trash-carrying balloons toward the South in late May,
which the North described as a retaliation against South Korean
civilian activists flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets
across the border.
Aside from North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and non-conventional
provocations, there’s growing concern over its reported provision of
military equipment and troops to Russia to support President
Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. South Korean officials say the
deepening military alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang could
possibly result in Russian technology transfers that increases the
threat posed by Kim’s military nuclear program.
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