North Korea Carried Out 300 GPS Jamming Attacks in 10 Days, Seoul Says

Visitors use binoculars to look at the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, from South Korea's Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju on Oct. 9, 2024. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images

The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT on Nov. 10 said that North Korea has staged hundreds of GPS jamming attacks this month, affecting the operations of ships and civilian aircraft in the region.

The ministry detected a total of 331 GPS disruptions over 10 days—279 cases targeting aircraft and 52 affecting ships—although no damage had been reported, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

The ministry reported that it had identified the source of radio interference as coming from the Kaepung and Haeju areas of North Korea, originating on Nov. 1, according to the report.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had alerted ships and airplanes operating in the Yellow Sea about the jamming attacks. It vowed to hold North Korea accountable for its provocative actions.

“North Korea should immediately halt the GPS provocation,” the South Korean military stated, the local news agency reported on Nov. 9.

This is not the first time that North Korea has launched GPS jamming attacks against South Korea. In June, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a resolution denouncing North Korea’s GPS jamming and called for preventive measures.

The resolution came after South Korea’s foreign ministry complained that North Korea’s GPS signal jamming activities had affected 500 civilian aircraft in 20 countries and regions between May 29 and June 2.

That was the first instance that the ICAO, a U.N. agency that promotes civil aviation safety and development, had explicitly identified North Korea as the perpetrator of GPS signal jamming attacks, according to a June 24 statement by the ministry.

Tensions between the north and the south continue amid North Korea’s repeated missile launches in violation of U.N. security resolutions, the latest of which occurred on Nov. 5, when multiple ballistic missiles were fired from the North Hwanghae province of North Korea and landed outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Concerns are also mounting among the Western allies over the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly with North Korea’s reported involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Pentagon estimates that there are now at least 10,000 North Korean troops deployed to Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

On Nov. 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a treaty formalizing a defense pact with North Korea, which includes a pledge by each party to provide military assistance if the other is attacked.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has said his country may consider revising its policy prohibiting the direct supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine.

Yoon said on Nov. 7 that South Korea would not rule out the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine if North Korean troops participate in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases,” the South Korean leader told reporters.