Next-gen military communication network would vulnerable to North Korean EMP attack

Posted on : 2017-10-12 17:47 KST Modified on : 2017-10-12 17:47 KST
Army made no request to provide for defensive measures during TICN development phase
An employee walks into the Defense Acquisition Program Administration building in Gwacheon
An employee walks into the Defense Acquisition Program Administration building in Gwacheon

The Tactical Information Communication Network (TICN) – the next-generation military communication network into which South Korea has poured 5.4 trillion won (about US$4.75 billion) – would be defenseless against a North Korea electromagnetic pulse (EMP), officials say. While the TICN is shielded against electromagnetic interference (EMI), which is caused by the electromagnetic waves emitted by solar flares and other electronic devices, it would be helpless against the kind of artificial EMP attack by North Korea that has been in the news recently, which suggests an urgent need for countermeasures.

“When I asked DAPA [South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration] why the materials supplied for the TICN program had EMI shielding but not EMP shielding, DAPA said that it had accounted for EMI during development at the army’s request, and not EMPs,” said Kim Byeong-gi, a lawmaker with the Democratic Party and a member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, in an interview with the Hankyoreh on Oct. 11.

“Since no measures were taken against an EMP attack, the various communication devices that are used in the field could be neutralized if enemy forces attacked the TICN, our mobile command and communication facility, with an EMP during a crisis. DAPA [the agency responsible for this program] said they didn’t apply EMP shielding because the army didn’t request it,” Kim said.

The TICN program, which began in 2015 and is scheduled to be completed in 2026, is supposed to create a “digital communications system” that can link weapon systems (such as self-propelled artillery, jet fighters, ships and missiles) with the command and control systems (the commanders of the army, navy and air force). The goal is for them to execute joint operations and share situational information and tactical data about target location, friend and foe identification, armament, fuel, target assignment, engagement, orders and video footage.

This is a key program designed to convert the military communication system from the “analog” method of transmitting information by voice over wireless devices to a “digital” method. The problem is that this next-generation military communication network is only shielded against EMI but has no shielding against the EMP provocation that the North Korean military would use during a crisis.

In order for the TICN to perform its function, it requires shielding against artificial EMP attacks. An EMP is a powerful electromagnetic wave that is created when a nuclear-tipped ICBM is detonated in the sky, which can fry the internal circuits in electronic devices, rendering them useless. Recently, many have been citing the need for countermeasures against an EMP attack by North Korea, which would be not a direct but an indirect nuclear attack.

Furthermore, North Korea is fully capable of carrying out an EMP attack even without acquiring the tricky reentry technology that requires passing through an altitude of 20km, the most difficult layer of the atmosphere for reentry because the air is densest there. Reports indicate that a nuclear bomb detonated at an altitude of 400km could disable electronic devices across the entire US; at an altitude of 60-70km, a nuclear detonation could do the same across all of South Korea.

“Considering that the key to warfare in the 21st century is intelligence and network capabilities, how are our units supposed to win if their communication devices stop working when they go out to the field to fight? It’s extremely irresponsible for the army not to request EMP shielding and for DAPA not to take related measures when they’re experts in the defense industry,” Kim said, calling for measures to be taken against an EMP attack.

By Kim Kyu-nam, staff reporter

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