N.Korean GPS Jamming Threatens Passenger Planes
The instrument panel on a Jin Air passenger jet that took off from Chitose Airport in Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture on April 29 began to malfunction as the aircraft was landing at Incheon International Airport. The ground proximity warning came on even though the aircraft had not reached the landing strip.
The pilot immediately switched off the GPS and swerved the aircraft in another direction. It managed to land after circling the airport, but the malfunction could have led to a major accident. Three similar incidents occurred at Gimpo and Incheon airports since April 28, all of them due to North Korean GPS jamming signals.
According to the government, 667 aircraft were affected by North Korean GPS jamming signals since April 28. They include 618 Korean passenger planes, 48 foreign passenger planes, including 17 U.S., 10 Japanese and six Chinese, and one U.S. military aircraft.
Ships have also been affected. In some cases, small South Korean fishing boats near the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea, the de facto maritime border, almost drifted into North Korean waters when their GPS malfunctioned.
South Korea sent a letter to North Korea via the border truce village of Panmunjom protesting against the GPS jamming, but the North refused to accept it. Investigators at the Korea Communications Commission have verified that the jamming signals originated from Kaesong in North Korea, but South Korean authorities did nothing for 11 days while the North kept jamming the signal.
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