SEOUL — North Korea’s (NK) trash balloon campaign, missile launches and the emergence of Global Positioning System (GPS) “spoofing” have increased risks in South Korean airspace, aviation experts say, complicating airline operations as tensions rise between the rival nations.

In late May, North Korea began floating thousands of balloons with bags of trash, including human excrement, suspended under them into South Korea, in what analysts say is a form of psychological 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, forcing a three-hour suspension of takeoffs and landings at its biggest international gateway.

When the balloons first appeared, aviation navigation interference from North Korea also spiked, including what appears to be the first bout of so-called “spoofing” affecting commercial aircraft in the South.

“Airspace safety is gradually deteriorating,” OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information, said in a June bulletin. “There are no official airspace warnings for South Korea, but the risk situation seems to be getting worse.” South Korea’s transport ministry said its military, air traffic control authorities and airlines maintain a 24-hour surveillance and communication system. “The South Korean military detects these balloons using surveillance assets… day and night,” a military spokesperson said, without giving further details.

North Korea, which also launched trash balloons in 2016, says they were retaliation for propaganda campaigns by North Korean defectors and activists in the South who send items via balloon.

‘QUITE COMPLICATED’
The balloon flights have several times shut down operations at Incheon, the world’s fifth-busiest international airport and an important cargo hub, about 40 km (25 miles) from North Korea.

The balloons have made flying in the area “quite complicated,” said Yun Chan Hwang, general manager of network operations for Korean Air Lines, which has adapted procedures to deal with the new hazard.

If northerly winds are expected, the airline adds fuel to flight plans so aircraft can stay aloft longer or divert to alternative airports, Yun said. Disruption caused by the balloon campaign is being exacerbated by increased signs of interference to the Global Positioning System (GPS), a network of satellites and receivers used for navigation.

Militaries and other actors can broadcast signals that trick a GPS system into thinking it is somewhere it is not. “This could lead pilots to drift off course, with the risk of straying into North Korean airspace,” said Kari Bingen, the aerospace security project director at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Between May 29 and June 2 about 500 planes and hundreds of ships experienced GPS problems, South Korea’s government said. It complained to United Nations aviation body ICAO, which warned North Korea to stop.

CONSTANT RISK
GPS interruptions in the South from North Korea have occurred for more than a decade, but spoofing appears new, said SkAI, a Swiss company that runs a live disruption map.

SkAI detected spoofing in South Korean airspace between May 29 and June 2 that affected dozens of planes, co-founder Benoit Figuet said.

“Some of the impacted airplanes were flying quite low in altitude. We even have seen airplanes being spoofed while being on the ground,” Mr. Figuet said.

Notifications to pilots issued by South Korea in May and June warned planes flying around Incheon and Seoul to “exercise extreme caution when using GPS.”

No major aviation accident has been linked to GPS spoofing globally, but a business jet flying from Europe to Dubai nearly entered Iranian airspace without clearance in September 2023, OPSGROUP said.

North Korea said last year it would shoot down anything it deemed a reconnaissance flight entering its airspace.

Most airlines avoid North Korean airspace. The US Federal Aviation Administration bans overflights of North Korea for reasons including unannounced ballistic missile tests, air defence capabilities and potential electronic warfare.

“South Korea’s airspace is at constant risk of instability caused by some kind of political crisis,” OPSGROUP said. “Things have potential to change quickly, and without warning.” — Reuters

WASHINGTON — US President Joseph R. Biden pledged to forcefully defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion at the NATO summit in Washington on Tuesday, using the global stage to try to show allies at home and abroad that he can still lead.

Mr. Biden, 81, has endured 12 days of withering questions about his fitness for office as some of his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill and campaign donors fear that he will lose the Nov. 5 election after a halting debate performance on June 27.

“(Vladimir) Putin wants nothing less, nothing less, than Ukraine’s total subjugation … and to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Mr. Biden said in his welcome to NATO member states to the summit, referring to the Russian president. “Ukraine can and will stop Putin.”

The White House is hoping he can turn the page on a difficult period in his presidency with his highest profile policy speech since the debate, although some diplomats at the summit said the damage was hard to erase.

On Tuesday, Mr. Biden spoke off of a teleprompter with a strong and confident voice and largely avoided the verbal flubs and signs of confusion that marked his debate performance.

Mr. Biden was framed by the gilded walls of the federal hall where the treaty creating NATO was signed, his speech bookended by stirring musical performances by the US Marine Corp. band.

“Today NATO is stronger than it’s ever been in its history,” he said.

Mr. Biden has rebuffed calls to step aside in his race against Republican Donald Trump, 78, vowing to beat him in November. So far, he has maintained the public support of most of his party’s elite.

The US president has made restoring traditional alliances abroad the centerpiece of his foreign policy after Trump challenged allies as part of an “America First” approach. The election winner in November could have a substantial impact on the future of NATO, Europe and the rest of the world.

“We don’t see how he can come back after the debate,” said one European diplomat, who dismissed Tuesday’s speech as evidence of Mr. Biden’s endurance because it was scripted. “I can’t imagine him being at helm of the US and NATO for four more years.”

Mr. Trump has suggested that, given a second term, he would not defend NATO members if they came under military attack and did not meet the alliance’s defense spending target of 2% of their annual gross domestic product (GDP). He has also questioned the amount of aid given to Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s invasion.

Mr. Biden closed his remarks by surprising NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, clasping the highest US civilian award around the Norwegian politician’s neck and crediting him with reviving the 32-member alliance.

UKRAINE FIGHTS FOR MORE
The centerpiece of the NATO summit is set to be new commitments of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the summit would “further strengthen” the war-torn country’s path to NATO membership.

Biden and the leaders of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania issued a joint statement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announcing the delivery of five additional Patriot and other strategic air defense systems to protect Ukrainian cities, civilians and soldiers.

They said additional strategic air defense systems would be announced this year.

Mr. Zelensky, who arrived in Washington on Tuesday and is due to meet with Mr. Biden on Thursday, has said Ukraine needs a minimum of seven Patriot systems, a goal met by the fresh deliveries announced on Tuesday.

“We are fighting for additional security guarantees for Ukraine — and these are weapons and finances, political support,” he said on social media.

Ukraine ultimately wants to join NATO to ward against further future attacks by Russia but candidates have to be approved by all of the alliance’s members, some of which are wary of provoking a direct conflict with Russia.

Some members want the alliance to make clear Ukraine is moving toward NATO “irreversibly” and are keen for language in a summit statement beyond the alliance’s pledge last year that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO.”

BIDEN’S STAYING POWER?
NATO, celebrating its 75^th anniversary, has found new purpose in opposing Mr. Putin’s Ukraine invasion and the grinding war will dominate private conversations between the leaders of the countries.

Those leaders, already anxious about the prospect of Mr. Trump’s return, came to Washington with fresh concern about Mr. Biden’s staying power, according to diplomats from their countries.

Mr. Biden will hold a rare solo press conference on Thursday, also aimed at quieting concerns.

As Mr. Biden tried to rally allies and domestic support, several high-ranking European officials met with a top foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump during the summit.

NATO leaders face political uncertainty in Europe, with paralysis looming in France after gains for left and far right parties and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition weakened after a poor showing in European Parliament elections.

A US intelligence official said on Tuesday said that Russia prefers that Mr. Trump win the upcoming election.

New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said as he headed to his first NATO summit that he would fulfill a campaign commitment to increase United Kingdom  defense spending to 2.5% of GDP but underlined he would only do so when the country could afford it and after a review of defense strategy.

A senior NATO official said on Tuesday Russia lacks the munitions and troops to start a major offensive in Ukraine and needs to secure significant ammunition supplies from other countries beyond what it already has.

But he estimated Russia would be able to sustain its war economy for three to four more years and also said “it will be some time” before Ukraine has amassed the munitions and personnel it needs to mount its own large-scale offensive operations. — Reuters

BANGKOK — Thailand’s economy has not been good for a long time, with growth deteriorating as it faces structural problems, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

The government was working to lift economic growth to 3% this year from current projections of about 2.5%, Pichai Chunhavajira told a business seminar, adding growth was low compared with rates of close to 6% in the past.

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy expanded 1.9% last year, lagging regional peers, as it faced weak exports and high household debt and borrowing costs. Average economic growth was 1.73% over the past decade.

Mr. Pichai said tourism would help drive the economy, as at least 35 million foreign tourist arrivals were expected this year. In 2019, before the pandemic, there was a record of nearly 40 million visitors.

He also said current household debt at more than 90% of gross domestic product needed to be urgently tackled amid rising bad loans.

Mr. Pichai said he was hoping the central bank would relax loan-to-value regulations for mortgages to support the property sector. — Reuters