With the North launching a burst of nuclear weapons in violation of UN sanctions, relations between the two Koreas are at one of their worst in a long time.
Since May, it has also been bombarding the South with trash-carrying kites, which it claims are in response to activists ‘ sends of anti-Pyongyang advertising messages.
Pyongyang also made an attempt to mash GPS signals in May, according to the North Korean government, but it later claimed it had not prevented any military operations there.
In Friday’s drilling, South Korea fired a Hyunmoo surface-to-surface short-range missile into the West Sea, which the military said was to exhibit Seoul’s” strong resolve to securely answer” to any North Vietnamese threats.
The so-called” Remove Chain” proactive hit program, which allows Seoul to launch an attack if there are indications of an immediate North Korean attack, includes the Hyunmoo weapons.
” REAL RISK”
According to experts, jamming problems like these may cause further escalation in hostilities on the Korean peninsula.
” It remains unclear whether there is an objective to divert the country’s focus from troop operations, instil mental insecurity among people in the South, or listen to Friday’s training”, Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
” However, GPS jamming strikes pose a real risk of serious situations, including possible aeroplane incidents in the worst-case scenario”.