North Korea’s Non Kinetic Attacks

North Korea has been conducting non kinetic means of warfare in the recent past against South Korea. These attacks exclude conventional means of war-fighting and employs techniques like misinformation warfare, psychological warfare, and cyber attacks to include a few.

Non kinetic counter-space and electronic warfare capabilities are developed by North Korea as a non-kinetic deterrence against United States and other adversaries of North Korea. Some of these counter-space capabilities developed by North Korea are Global Positioning System (GPS) and Satellite Communication (SATCOM) jamming and also deny adversaries of space-based navigation and communication in times of conflict.

Non-kinetic warfare could also form an integral part of conventional and well as nuclear warfare during which North Korea could degrade adversaries’ space-based capabilities. Jamming of satellites could become advantageous for North Korea as deterrence could strengthen without the use of conventional force.

In 2024, it was reported that North Korea disrupted GPS signals from border areas for more than one day, resulting in adversely impacting South Korean civilian flights and maritime vessels. Such actions by North Korea highlighted South Korea’s vulnerability of its critical infrastructure.

Pyongyang has also used balloons carrying trashes in 2024 against South Korea and in July 2024, the trash balloons fell on the South Korean presidential compound ahead of the South Korean President’s meeting with the Polish President. Such psychological warfare mechanisms coupled with frequent missile test firings are methods for Pyongyang to express its angst and discontent over policies and strategies of its adversaries.

In 2024, following South Korea’s drone infiltration, North Korea’s military and security agencies launched joint electronic warfare exercises along North Korea’s northern and southern borders. Already the Ministry of State Security’s electronic surveillance bureau has deployed specialized personnel to the border regions.

Cyber warfare allows North Korea to inflict serious damages to adversaries’ critical and sensitive information that poses threat to their national security at low cost. On the other hand, such mechanisms act as a tool to further its geo political objectives.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un links cyber warfare as “all purpose sword.” Generating finances through cyber theft provides the regime respite despite the harsh sanctions imposed upon it by negating the affects of sanctions to a considerable extent.

There is little doubt that such cash have been diverted for development and improvement of nuclear weapons and delivery system capabilities.

Such concerns have also been raised by South Korea which doubted that funds raised from crypto currency theft have been used on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. Such cash have been used for buying more computers to hack into crucial defence information from entities that develop submarines, missile and radar systems, fighter jets, naval ships and tanks.

North Korea has also been reported to have hacked into South Korean chip equipment makers in order to attempt to manufacture its own chips for semiconductors due to sanctions imposed upon it. These chips could be used in missile technologies.

Generating finance to make the economy run through crypto-currency theft by crypto hacking is now not a new news for the global order. In addition, malware and social engineering had become a tradecraft in North Korean cyber crime options.

Such cyber theft operations are carried out by secret units existing in Pyongyang’s intelligence service, Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB). North Korea is also attempting to hack nuclear and military secrets and is targeting several entities like the defence, aerospace, nuclear and engineering ones. The Anadriel hackers involved in such types of hackings are believed to be a part of the RGB.

These non kinetic means of warfare take place along with North Korean missile tests which include testing of intercontinental ballistic missile in October 2024, and also hypersonic intermediate range missile in January 2025. Many short range missiles were also fired in January 2025 landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The amalgamation of kinetic weapons which include missiles and non-kinetic deterrent capabilities provide Pyongyang a leverage to keep South Korean conventional deterrence at risk. According to Kim Jong-un, North Korea is building nuclear arsenal “no can respond to.” This, along with jamming and spoofing capabilities that could be applied against adversaries’ air and missile defence capabilities would strengthen Pyongyang’s nuclear deterrence.

Nuclear deterrence relies on capabilities that are credible enough to strengthen deterrence. One of the ways of strengthening credibility is to ensure that missiles can evade defensive weapon systems and cause cataclysmic damage.

As North Korea continues to employ increased sophistication its cyber thefts, there are chances that the state could develop technologically advanced missile capabilities. According to National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Director of Operations, North Korea’s cyber security operations have graduated from destructive operations to synchronized and specialized cyber theft and ransomware operations

In fact, there could be little doubt that Pyongyang could have hacked into sensitive information of hypersonic technology too. It has already tested hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), Hwasong-16B a technology available to countries like China and Russia. Pyongyang is also focusing on solid propelled missile capabilities that are more reliable than liquid fuelled propulsion systems and more maneuverable warheads to evade missile defence systems of adversaries.

As mentioned earlier, these cyber espionage operations are state-sponsored ones that focus on gathering data and information that could further their nuclear and weapons program to advanced stage.

In fact, there have been attempts to avail of design and drawings of uranium enrichment facilities and missile and missile defence systems. According to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the North Korean regime directs its IT professionals to gain employment in adversaries’ companies engaged in defence equipment manufacturing through fraud and then steal information and “siphon money back” to regime. The regime coaxes US defence manufacturing companies to hire its professionals for remote work.

The North Korean government has trained many such professionals to perpetrate into defence companies of adversaries to hack into their sensitive information. In one such case, a hacker used a US firm’s remote working tool to hack into the company’s corporate network. The hacker then demanded for ransom in order to refrain from publishing the stolen data online. These ransom collected are believed to be diverted to the North Korean regime.

According to a professional of cyber security firm, Michael Barnhart, “[w]hen Kim Jong-un demands missiles,” the Andariel professionals who are “not bound by any ethical considerations” steal the blueprints for him.

North Korea lacks a credible missile defence system, but is aware of a need to possess one owing to the fact that any attack it launches against South Korea would be dealt with a tit-for-tat approach. Hence, there would be a need to defend its territory against South Korean missile attacks.

North Korea’s non kinetic warfare in a way can be concluded as means to support its kinetic warfare program that has been sanctioned due to international pressures.

Non kinetic warfare would also become a crucial way to disrupt governance mechanisms by interfering into both traditional and non-traditional security aspects that affect day-to-day activities.

While nuclear weapons and missiles are being developed to boost pride and prestige of the regime, its non kinetic means of warfare also provides another tool in its military toolbox to achieve its global objectives.

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