North Korea has staged a Global Positioning System (GPS) jamming attack, Seoul’s military has said, an ongoing disruption operation that has affected several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft in South Korea.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Saturday warned ships and aircraft operating in the West Sea area, also known as the Yellow Sea, to be cautious of North Korea’s GPS signal jamming.

“North Korea conducted GPS jamming provocations in Haeju and Kaesong yesterday and today [November 8-9],” the JCS said in a statement, adding that several vessels and dozens of civilian aircraft were experiencing “some operational disruptions” as a result.

GPS relies on a network of satellites and receivers that allows for global positioning and navigation.

The JCS also called on North Korea to immediately halt the interference and warned it would be held accountable for its actions.

Between May 29 and June 2, an estimated 500 planes and hundreds of ships experienced GPS problems due to North Korean interference, South Korea’s government said at the time. Seoul complained to the United Nations aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which warned North Korea to stop the jamming.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on Saturday that the latest GPS “jamming attack” involved a weaker interference signal compared with the widespread interference North Korea perpetrated in May and June.

South Korean military operations and equipment have not been affected, Yonhap said, citing the JCS.

Tension between the two Koreas has escalated in recent months amid missile tests by Pyongyang, North Korea’s destruction of transport infrastructure connecting the North with the South, the recent dumping of rubbish over South Korea from balloons launched in the North, and the reported deployment of North Korean troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Aviation experts said North Korea’s rubbish balloon campaign, numerous ballistic missile launches and the emergence of GPS “spoofing” – where a signal is transmitted to override a legitimate GPS satellite signal – have increased risks in South Korean airspace, complicating airline operations as tensions rise between the rival nations.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told the AFP news agency that the reason for the jamming operation needs to be analysed.

“It remains unclear whether there is an intention to divert the world’s attention from troop deployments, instil psychological insecurity among residents in the South, or respond to Friday’s drills,” Yang said, referring to South Korea’s test firing of a missile.

“However, GPS jamming attacks pose a real risk of serious incidents, including potential aircraft accidents in the worst-case scenario,” he said.

South Korea fired a Hyunmoo surface-to-surface short-range missile into the West Sea on Friday, which the military said was to show Seoul’s “strong resolve to firmly respond” to any North Korean threats.

Hyunmoo missiles are key to the country’s so-called ‘Kill Chain’ preemptive strike capacity, which would allow Seoul to launch an attack if there are signs of an imminent North Korean attack.

South Korea, Japan, and the United States have conducted a joint air drill involving a heavy bomber, Seoul’s military said, in response to North Korea’s latest long-range missile test.

The exercise took place on Sunday, three days after Pyongyang launched one of its most powerful and advanced solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which experts say could reach targets in the mainland US.

The drill mobilised the US’ B-1B bomber, South Korea’s F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets, and Japan’s F-2 jets, Seoul’s military said.

“The exercise demonstrates the commitment of the ROK-US alliance to integrated extended deterrence in response to the advancing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea,” said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in a press release.

During the aerial manoeuvre, South Korea and Japan’s jets escorted the US strategic bomber to a designated location south of the Korean peninsula, “demonstrating an overwhelming capability to swiftly and accurately strike simulated targets,” it added.

The B-1B Lancer is a supersonic heavy bomber known for its high-speed performance with a payload of 34,000 kilograms of munitions, including both conventional and precision-guided weapons.

It was the fourth time this year the bomber was deployed to the Korean peninsula, the military said, and the second time for a trilateral aerial exercise to counter Pyongyang’s military threats.

The North’s latest ICBM launch is said to have flown higher and further than any previous missile, according to North Korea as well as Seoul and Tokyo’s militaries, which tracked it in real-time.

The official Korean Central News Agency hailed it as “the world’s strongest strategic missile,” and leader Kim “expressed great satisfaction” at the successful launch.

North Korea “would never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces,” the agency said.

The launch came amid growing international scrutiny over Pyongyang’s purported deployment of thousands of troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, raising concerns North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms could soon engage in combat.

North Korea has confirmed it launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards waters off its eastern coast in what was the longest flight time yet for a North Korean missile, authorities in South Korea and Japan said, raising fears of advanced weapons development by Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was present at the missile test launch and issued a warning to his enemies, the KCNA state news agency said.

“The test-fire is an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals, who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our Republic recently, of our counteraction will,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement the missile launched towards the East Sea, which is also known as the Sea of Japan, was detected at about 7:10am local time (22:10 GMT) and was fired on a “lofted trajectory”.

The JCS said later that initial analysis points to a possible use by North Korea of a newly developed solid-fuel booster for its long-range missiles.

Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said the missile, which splashed down about 300km (190 miles) west of Japan’s Okushiri Island, off the country’s northern Hokkaido region, had flown the longest time of any of Pyongyang’s past missile tests.

“It was the longest time flying of any missile so far,” Nakatani told reporters.

“I think it may be different from conventional missiles,” he said.

North Korea’s launch of longer-range missiles in “lofted trajectory” means firing the missile almost vertically. This allows a missile to travel to a very high altitude but then land a short horizontal distance from the launch site. Such launches are said to enable Pyongyang to gather data to better understand the challenges faced when a long-range warhead re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

According to South Korea and Japan, the missile on Thursday recorded a flight time of 87 minutes, longer than the last ICBM test launch in December 2023, which clocked in at 73 minutes. The trajectory of the missile reached an altitude of 7,000km (4,349 miles) and flew a distance of 1,000km (621 miles), the Japanese government said, calling it an ICBM-class missile.

The latest missile launch comes a day after South Korea’s military intelligence agency told lawmakers that North Korea has likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test and was close to test-firing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States.

US National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett called the launch a “violation” of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that he said “needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region”.

The launch also comes amid concerns about North Korea’s reported troop dispatch to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference in Washington with South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving towards Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilising development.

South Korea reports that North Korea has sent more than 11,000 troops to Russia and that more than 3,000 of them have been moved close to fighting in western Russia.

Shin Seung-ki, head of research on North Korea’s military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said the missile launch was likely to test the improved booster performance of an existing ICBM – possibly with the help of Russia.

“North Korea will want to keep getting help like this because it saves times and costs while improving performance and upgrading the stability of weapons system,” he said.

Having come under pressure over its engagement with Russia in Ukraine, “the intention may be to show that it will not bow to pressure, that it will respond to strength with strength, and also to seek some influence on the US presidential election,” Shin added.

North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to train in Russia, the Pentagon said on Monday, more than tripling the previous estimate as Nato warned of a dangerous expansion of the Ukraine war.

Russia and North Korea have boosted their political and military alliance in the course of the conflict, but the deployment of Pyongyang’s troops into combat against Kyiv’s forces would mark a significant escalation.

“We believe that the DPRK has sent around 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia that will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.

“A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast,” Singh said.

The number of North Korean troops in Russia could grow further “as Putin’s desperation continues to rise”, she said of Russia’s president, whose forces have reportedly suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties in Ukraine.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby previously put the number of North Korean troops in Russia at more than 3,000 on October 23, warning that they would become “legitimate military targets” if they fight against Ukraine.

Nato chief Mark Rutte on Monday decried the deployment of North Korean troops to bolster Russia’s war effort in Ukraine as a dangerous expansion of the conflict that signalled Putin’s “growing desperation”.

Experts have said that in return for the troops, North Korea is likely aiming to acquire military technology, ranging from surveillance satellites to submarines, plus possible security guarantees from Moscow.

North Korea and Russia are under UN sanctions — Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program, and Moscow for the Ukraine war.

North Korea has decided to send a “large-scale” troop deployment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East and undergoing training, Seoul’s spy agency said on Friday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said North Korea had decided to send thousands of soldiers to help Russia, releasing detailed satellite images it said showed the first deployment.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol convened an emergency security meeting Friday, with Seoul slamming Pyongyang’s move as “a significant security threat not only to our country but also to the international community,” the president’s office said.

The NIS said it had “detected that from the 8th to the 13th (of October), North Korea transported its special forces to Russia via a Russian Navy transport ship, confirming the start of North Korea’s military participation” in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

According to the NIS, multiple Russian landing ships and frigates have already completed transporting the first contingent of troops, who are currently stationed in military bases across Russia’s Far East.

This handout from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service released on October 18 shows a satellite image by Airbus Defence and Space of Russia’s Ussuriysk military facility, where the intelligence service said North Korean personnel were gathered within the training ground on October 16. — AFP
The special forces soldiers “are expected to be deployed to the front lines (of the Ukraine conflict) as soon as they complete acclimatisation training,” it said. The soldiers have been issued Russian military uniforms and Russian-made weapons, the NIS said.

“This seems to be an effort to disguise the fact that they are North Korean troops by making them appear as Russian soldiers,” NIS added.

More troops are likely to be sent soon, NIS said, adding that it estimated the North could send around 12,000 soldiers in total. “A second transport operation is expected to take place soon,” it said.

Artillery shells, missiles

Pyongyang and Moscow have been allies since North Korea’s founding after World War II and have drawn even closer since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Seoul and Washington long claiming that Kim Jong Un has been sending weapons for use in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, with the two countries signing a mutual defence treaty, fuelling speculations of further arms transfers — which violate rafts of UN sanctions on both countries.

The NIS said Friday that the North had “provided Russia with more than 13,000 containers’ worth of artillery shells, missiles, anti-tank rockets and other lethal weapons” since last August.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday flagged intelligence reports saying North Korea was training 10,000 soldiers to support Russia in its fight against Kyiv.

Zelensky suggested that Russia is relying on North Korean troops to compensate for its substantial losses, as many young Russians seek to avoid conscription.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian media reported that six North Korean military officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk on October 3.

Seoul’s defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, told lawmakers at the time that it was “highly likely” that the report was true. Experts said that moving from supplying shells to soldiers to Russia was the logical next step.

“For North Korea, which has supplied Russia with many shells and missiles, it’s crucial to learn how to handle different weapons and gain real-world combat experience,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

“This might even be a driving factor behind sending North Korean soldiers — to provide them with diverse experiences and wartime training,” he told AFP.

‘Nato cannot yet confirm North Korea is sending troops to Russia’

Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Friday that the alliance could not yet confirm South Korean intelligence that North Korea was deploying troops to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.

“At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort,” Rutte told reporters following a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels. “But this, of course, might change,” he said.

Rutte said Nato was “in close contact” with its partners, particularly South Korea, which was taking part in this week’s talks as part of the so-called Indo-Pacific four, along with Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

“We will certainly have that conversation with them to get all the evidence on the table,” said the Nato chief.

“Even if North Korea is not physically there at the battlefield then still, they are helping to fuel Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in every way they can,” Rutte said.

North Korea has blown up the northern sections of disused roads that connect it to South Korea, according to South Korea’s military.

Some parts of the road north of the military demarcation line dividing the two countries were blown up at about midday (03:00 GMT), the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message sent to media on Tuesday.

The military fired warning shots south of the demarcation line, it said. Seoul had warned on Monday that Pyongyang was preparing to blow up the roads.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen since North Korea accused its neighbour of sending drones carrying propaganda leaflets over the country’s capital Pyongyang.

One showed North Korean soldiers in military uniforms setting up what appeared to be cameras on tripods ahead of a huge explosion, which blew up sections of the Gyeongui road and kicked up billowing clouds of smoke and dust. More footage, apparently from after the blasts, showed excavators digging, while North Koreans in military uniforms worked nearby. There was also footage showing North Korea blowing up a section of the Donghae road, on the east coast.

“This is a practical military measure related to the hostile dual-state system that North Korea has frequently mentioned,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told the AFP news agency.

The blasts came a day after Kim called a meeting with his top military and security officials to discuss the drone issue.

During the meeting, Kim described the flights as the “enemy’s serious provocation” and laid out unspecified tasks related to “immediate military action” and the operation of his “war deterrent” for defending the country’s sovereignty, North Korean state media reported on Tuesday morning.

North Korea earlier put frontline artillery and other army units on standby to launch attacks on South Korea, if its drones were found over North Korea again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned it would sternly punish North Korea if the safety of its citizens was threatened.

Destroying the roads is in line with Kim Jong Un’s push to cut off ties with South Korea, formally cement it as his country’s principal enemy and abandon North Korea’s decades-long objective to seek the peaceful unification of the two Koreas.

In 2020, North Korea blew up the empty liaison office for the two Koreas, signalling the end of a period of detente.

In November last year, Pyongyang said it would move more troops and military equipment to the border and would no longer be bound by a 2018 joint military agreement after Seoul suspended parts of the agreement in response to Pyongyang’s launch of a military spy satellite.

South Korean officials have said that North Korea began adding antitank barriers and laying mines along the border earlier this year.

North Korea’s army has said it will sever road and railway access to South Korea and fortify areas on its side of the border, state media reported.

The Korean People’s Army said on Wednesday that it will “completely cut off roads and railways” linked to South Korea and “fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defence structures”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The move was viewed as symbolic, given that cross-border travel and exchanges have been halted for years.

The army said in its statement carried by KCNA that it was a response to war exercises that have been held in South Korea as well as frequent visits by United States strategic assets to the region.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that it had notified the US-led United Nations Command, a multinational military force that oversees affairs in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war.

The two sides signed an armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War, but not a peace treaty.

North Korea had already been installing landmines and barriers and creating wasteland along the heavily militarised border for months this year, South Korea’s military has previously said.

The new steps, which mark a further escalation of conflict between the two Koreas, were described in the army’s statement as a “self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security” of North Korea.

It said that “hostile forces are getting ever more reckless in their confrontational hysteria”, and that it had sent a message to the US military to explain its fortification activity to prevent any misjudgment and potential accidental clashes.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, with Pyongyang conducting a series of weapons tests. North Korea tested a long-range artillery system on Tuesday, KCNA reported.

The announcement came as Pyongyang maintained its silence on an expected revision of the constitution that will see the country scrap the goal of peaceful reunification and formally designate South Korea as an enemy state.

The Supreme People’s Assembly had been expected to make the constitutional changes during a two-day meeting this week, obeying orders from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued in January, which had raised concerns that all-out war could return to the Korean Peninsula.

But while KCNA reported that the country had appointed a new defence minister – No Kwang Chol, who accompanied Kim to talks with then-US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019 – it made no mention of the constitutional amendments.