North Korea Targets South Korea’s GPS with 5-Day Jamming—Are Drone Strikes Next?

North Korea has reportedly continued its GPS jamming attempts aimed at South Korea for five consecutive days, from November 8 to Tuesday.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Lee Sung Jun, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that “GPS disruptions were detected again today in the West Sea island areas, with intermittent, low-intensity jamming occurring in the early morning hours.”

Lee added that they assess that the current GPS disruptions are largely part of North Korea’s self-training exercises in preparation for potential drone incursions.

These recent North Korean GPS jamming attacks have caused some disruptions to the operations of South Korean vessels and civilian aircraft.

This isn’t the first time such jamming attempts have occurred. North Korea conducted similar GPS disruptions targeting the south for five consecutive days between late May and early June, near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea.

While the earlier incidents were seen as provocations due to their direction and intensity, military sources noted that the recent disruptions have been less intense and shorter, making it difficult to categorize them as full-scale attacks.