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North Korea balloons, GPS disturbance raise security dangers for airline companies

North Korea's garbage balloon project, missile launches and the introduction of GPS spoofing. have actually increased dangers in South Korean airspace, air travel professionals. say, complicating airline company operations as stress increase in between. the competing nations.

In late May, North Korea started floating countless. balloons with bags of garbage, including human excrement,. suspended under them into South Korea, in what experts say is a. type of mental warfare.

Hundreds of balloons landed in the South during seven waves. between May 29 and June 27, including one on a runway at Incheon. airport, requiring a three-hour suspension of launches and. landings at its greatest global gateway.

When the balloons first appeared, air travel navigation. disturbance from North Korea also spiked, including what. seems the very first bout of so-called spoofing affecting. business aircraft in the South.

Airspace security is slowly deteriorating, OPSGROUP, a. membership-based organisation that shares flight danger. information, said in a June publication. There are no official. airspace cautions for South Korea, but the risk scenario appears. to be getting worse.

South Korea's transport ministry stated its military, air. traffic control authorities and airline companies keep a 24-hour. surveillance and interaction system.

The South Korean military spots these balloons using. monitoring assets ... day and night, a military representative. said, without providing more details.

North Korea, which also introduced trash balloons in 2016,. says they were retaliation for propaganda projects by North. Korean defectors and activists in the South who send out products by means of. balloon.

' QUITE COMPLICATED'

The balloon flights have several times shut down operations. at Incheon, the world's fifth-busiest international airport and. an essential cargo center, about 40 km (25 miles) from North Korea.

The balloons have made flying in the area quite. complicated, said Yun Chan Hwang, basic manager of network. operations for Korean Air Lines, which has adjusted. procedures to handle the brand-new danger.

If northern winds are anticipated, the airline company intensifies to. flight plans so aircraft can stay up longer or divert to. alternative airports, Yun stated.

Disturbance caused by the balloon project is being. intensified by increased indications of interference to the Global. Positioning System (GPS), a network of satellites and receivers. used for navigation.

Militaries and other actors can transmit signals that deceive. a GPS system into believing it is someplace it is not.

This could lead pilots to drift off course, with the risk. of straying into North Korean airspace, stated Kari Bingen, the. aerospace security project director at the Washington-based. Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

In between May 29 and June 2 about 500 planes and hundreds of. ships experienced GPS issues, South Korea's government stated. It complained to U.N. air travel body ICAO, which alerted North. Korea to stop.

CONSISTENT DANGER

GPS disruptions in the South from North Korea have. happened for more than a years, however spoofing appears brand-new, said. SkAI, a Swiss company that runs a live interruption map.

SkAI discovered spoofing in South Korean airspace between May. 29 and June 2 that affected lots of airplanes, co-founder Benoit. Figuet said. Some of the affected planes were flying quite low in. elevation. We even have actually seen planes being spoofed while being. on the ground, Figuet said.

Notifications to pilots issued by South Korea in May and. June cautioned aircrafts flying around Incheon and Seoul to work out. severe caution when using GPS.

No major air travel mishap has been connected to GPS spoofing. internationally, however an organization jet flying from Europe to Dubai nearly. entered Iranian airspace without clearance in September 2023,. OPSGROUP stated.

North Korea stated in 2015 it would shoot down anything it. considered a reconnaissance flight entering its airspace.

A lot of airlines avoid North Korean airspace. The U.S. Federal. Aviation Administration prohibits overflights of North Korea for. reasons including unannounced ballistic rocket tests, air. defence abilities and potential electronic warfare.

South Korea's airspace is at consistent danger of instability. triggered by some type of political crisis, OPSGROUP said. Things. have potential to change quickly, and without caution.

(source: Reuters)