Confirmed: North cause of GPS hit

South Korea’s defense chief confirmed yesterday that North Korea was responsible for the disruption of navigational devices using a Global Positioning System (GPS) last week, adding that he will reinforce measures to cope with future electronic attacks by the North.

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary session that signals were detected originating from the North’s western border city of Kaesong and were also believed to be emitted from Mount Kumgang on the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.

“Besides Kaesong, Mount Kumgang is believed to be a site where the GPS jamming signals were originated,” a participant quoted Kim as saying at the closed-door session.

Seoul’s military officials have said the signals were sent from the North’s western border cities of Kaesong and Haeju, but it was the first time that Kim mentioned Mount Kumgang as a potential origin of the electronic attack.

Kim said the North’s attempt to block military communications was ineffective because most military devices use a military-only satellite navigation system.

“To cope with a future disruption of GPS signals, the ministry will step up a cooperation system among private, government and military sectors,” Kim said, according to the participant.

Yonhap