S. Korea to bolster GPS signal protection amid N. Korean threats

SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) — South Korea will beef up its system to protect GPS signals to counter North Korea’s jamming attempts, a related ministry said Friday.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning convened an inter-agency meeting of officials handling radio affairs and discussed ways to cope with the threat highlighted in recent days.

The North sought to disrupt South Korea’s GPS signals across the border for about a week, although the radio attack came to a halt on Wednesday, according to officials here. A number of airplanes and ships were affected by the disruptions but no major damage has been reported yet.

South Korean officials remain on high alert, saying the North may soon resume the GPS signal assault.

In the session, presided over by Vice Minister Choi Jae-you, the government decided to redouble efforts to develop technology that can deal with the North’s campaign and upgrade the relevant equipment and devices.

It was attended by more than 20 officials, including the heads of the Central Radio Management Service, Satellite Radio Monitoring Center and National Radio Research Agency.

Choi voiced concern about the possibility of social chaos and inconvenience from the North’s GPS jamming, pointing out that the South has a well-developed ICT infrastructure that could suffer huge damage.

He added that his ministry will continue to cooperate closely with the defense, transport, maritime and other ministries.

This file photo shows a GPS map of South Korean fishing boats in operation amid North Korea’s attempt to jam GPS signals last week. (Yonhap)