South Korea issues warning over suspected North Korean GPS disruption

March 31, 2016  - By
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South Korea issued a warning Thursday after detecting satellite signal disruptions that appeared to be coming from North Korea, according to the Korea Herald. The capital city of Seoul appeared to be the target.

Officials said North Korea discharged a large amount of radio waves to jam GPS signals in the region.

“We’ve detected signs that North Korea has been sending radio waves to the capital area since a month ago to disrupt GPS signals,” a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “North Korea had been sending test waves since last month, but today, they discharged the largest amount.”

The warning was issued at 7:30 p.m. in Seoul, the adjacent city of Incheon and the surrounding Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces.

The disruptions could cause mobile phones to malfunction and affect planes and ships that rely on GPS for navigation. No damage has so far been reported in the military or among civilians, officials said.

Since 2010, GPS disruptions have occurred three times in South Korea, and all have been blamed on the North.

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2 Comments on "South Korea issues warning over suspected North Korean GPS disruption"

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  1. FeiXie says:

    GPS World covers all aspects of the GNSS techonolgy and application for our readers.

  2. JJM says:

    Saw the report last night on OAN or FOX – no surprise.