S. Korea mulls raising N. Korea's GPS jamming attacks with UN bodies

Tourists look at Gaemori, North Korea, in Yeonpyeongdo, Incheon, in this photo provided by Ongjin County, June 1. Yonhap

South Korea is considering taking up North Korea's repeated jamming of GPS navigation signals with related U.N. bodies and other international organizations to bring its illegality to attention and stop Pyongyang's acts, officials said Monday.

The North staged GPS jamming attacks in waters near South Korea's northwestern border islands for the fifth straight day on Sunday, along with the sending of thousands of balloons carrying tons of trash over the border into the South.

South Korea warned Sunday of resuming loudspeaker broadcasting along the border as part of "unendurable" responses to Pyongyang over its "irrational" provocations.

Seoul officials said the government is considering raising the North's GPS jamming attacks at the international level with U.N. bodies, like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

"Nothing has been decided yet. We're looking at various options," a Seoul official said on condition of anonymity.

Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a briefing Monday that "measures are expected to be taken at the international level as the North's GPS jamming amounts to a violation of the international law."

The act of disrupting GPS signals violates the ITU charters prohibiting interference with communications from other U.N. member states. It also runs against the ICAO and IMO conventions on the protection of private airplanes and safe navigation of ships.

North Korea is a member of the ITU, ICAO and IMO.

"It can affect not only our fleet and airplanes, but foreign aircraft that use Incheon International Airport," a military official said.

In April 2016, South Korea sent a statement to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to denounce Pyongyang after it jammed the GPS signals near the border. Seoul had requested the statement be shared among the UNSC members.

Seoul also raised the issue with related U.N. bodies at the time.

In June of that year, the ICAO adopted a decision urging Pyongyang to fulfill its responsibility as an ICAO member, warning against carrying out the GPS jamming.

In November of the same year, the IMO also adopted a statement condemning the North for posing threats to ship navigation. (Yonhap)