Nearly half of military communications 'shelters' dysfunctional: lawmaker

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- Nearly half of specially-equipped military communications trailers and trucks, commonly known as "shelters," are not functioning properly, making them vulnerable to possible enemy attacks using electromagnetic pulses (EMP), a lawmaker said Monday.
A total of 4,654 transportable communications shelters have been put into service by the Army since 2000, but 46 percent of them failed to block electromagnetic waves, Rep. Kim Hak-song of the ruling Grand National Party said in a report submitted to a parliamentary audit.
In the report, Kim urged the military to swiftly replace the dysfunctional communications shelters.
North Korea is believed to have deployed jamming devices to the heavily-armed border with South Korea that could disrupt Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, military officials said.
The North is also thought to soon start developing EMP bombs that could paralyze communications using a burst of electromagnetic radiation, they said.
EMP bombs are known to jam and damage high-tech defense systems, such as radars and communication networks.