SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Tuesday rejected a letter from South Korea demanding that the communist nation stop sending jamming signals across the border, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

   South Korea's communications watchdog, Korea Communications Commission (KCC), asked the ministry earlier in the day to send the North a letter in which it complained of the trouble caused by disruptions to Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in the South.
South Korean officials have blamed North Korea for jamming the signals early this month in what they believe was an attempt to interrupt ongoing military drills between South Korean and U.S. forces. GPS-based mobile phones and certain military equipment in the South's northwestern areas experienced minor errors due to the disruption, according to officials.

   "Following KCC's request, we tried to deliver to the North a letter of complaint written in the name of KCC Chairman Choi See-joong through the liaison office at Panmunjom," the ministry said, referring to the inter-Korean truce village. "But the North's liaison officer refused to receive it."

   In the letter, the KCC said it demanded that the North "instantly stop jamming activities and provide measures against similar incidents in the future."

   The commission also wrote that the jamming of GPS signals is "causing an inconvenience to our people and threatening their safety," adding that such actions are "unacceptable" under International Telecommunications Union regulations. Both South and North Korea are members of the Union.

   North Korea was accused of jamming GPS signals across the border last year, but this is the first time the South has tried to lodge an official complaint on the matter.

   South Korea has already sought international action against the sabotage, with the foreign ministry sending a letter of inquiry to a United Nations agency in charge of information and communication technologies, a presidential official said earlier this month.

   hague@yna.co.kr
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