By Jun Ji-hye
The government has sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council asking it to punish North Korea for jamming Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in South Korea.
In the letter, the government said the jamming was a clear provocation that violates the ceasefire agreement and the regulations of the International Telecommunication Union.
The letter was sent April 5 by South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Oh Joon to China, the council’s rotating president.
Seoul said in the letter Pyongyang has been “generating electronic jamming signals that dangerously affect” the GPS in the South.
“The GPS jamming by the DPRK is an act of provocation that poses a threat to the security of the Republic of Korea and undermines the safety of civil transportation, including aircraft and vessels,” Oh wrote, asking for the document to be circulated within the council.
“The government of the Republic of Korea strongly urges the DPRK to stop its GPS jamming without further delay and to refrain from any other acts of provocation which undermine peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.”
The reclusive state transmitted a large amount of radio waves from March 31 to April 6 from five regions _ Haeju, Yonan, Pyonggang, Geumgang and Gaeseong _ according to officials.
The disruptions could cause mobile phones to malfunction and affect planes and ships that rely on GPS for navigation.
According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the disruption has affected more than 100 airplanes and vessels in the South, although no significant mishaps were reported.
Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said the North’s GPS disruption was apparently aimed at showing off the regime’s radio-jamming capabilities.
Officials also said the North conducted the GPS jamming apparently in response to the annual South Korea-U.S. military drills, and recent U.N. sanctions punishing the regime for its nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February.
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