North Korea Developing Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons

An anonymous reader writes "The Sydney Morning Herald reports, 'North Korea is using Russian technology to develop electromagnetic pulse weapons aimed at paralyzing military electronic equipment south of the border, according to South Korea's spy agency. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to parliament that the North had purchased Russian electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weaponry to develop its own versions. EMP weapons are used to damage electronic equipment. At higher energy levels, an EMP can cause more widespread damage including to aircraft structures and other objects. The spy agency also said the North's leader Kim Jong-Un sees cyber attacks as an all-purpose weapon along with nuclear weapons and missiles, according to legislators briefed by the NIS.'" Let's not forget that North Korea has also achieved nuclear fusion, developed a super drink that can cure aging and disease, and found a "unicorn lair" last year.

Comments

Now we know why there's no electronics in NK

[Anonymous Coward]

It's all part of a plan to destroy the rest of the world by having the only part that doesn't use electronics. Thus they can set off a global EMP without consequence.

Clever of them, isn't it?

Re:Now we know why there's no electronics in NK

[meerling]

Yeah, and they'd have to run an extension cord to South Korean for enough juice to run it in the first place. :P

Re:Now we know why there's no electronics in NK

[cold fjord]

That's why North Korea is Best Korea(c)!

Little known fact - when they play Donkey Kong they use real donkeys. Their gaming industry is impervious to EMP.

Re:Now we know why there's no electronics in NK

[cusco]

In the 1970s the Soviets designed a simple EMP device that could be built in any machine shop inexpensively, and the plans have been in the wild since the fall of the Soviet Union. It's interesting that it's not used by the terriers, imagine what the effect would be on Wall Street or Las Vegas.

Bad idea

[Ralph Wiggam]

Wouldn't an EMP also fry all of the electronics owned by North Korean citizens....oh..wait.

Re:Bad idea

[R3d M3rcury]

Depends on what you're trying to do.

Consider America's modern soldier--or maybe a few years down the road. He's wearing radios and cameras, has computer-aided targeting systems, etc. How are the North Koreans going to compete against that kind of technology?

On the other hand, if you could knock it out from a short distance away, you turn an effectively integrated military unit into a bunch of guys with guns. You level the playing field.

Two cats and a wool sweater

[Shadow of Eternity]

Maybe even some wool socks if they're really pushing things.

Re:Two cats and a wool sweater

[DavidClarkeHR]

Maybe even some wool socks if they're really pushing things.

Somewhere in translation, it was changed from Massive ESD to a much more threatening Massive EMP.

It's all true

[AbRASiON]

The reality is the anti-aging drink, nuclear fusion and EMP weapons are all byproducts of the biggest find, which was of course the unicorn lair. Technology beyond your wildest dreams, the unicorns have always held it back from us.
I for one hail our North Korean, unicorn riding overlords.

Re:It's all true

[I'm New Around Here]

As Stile learned, unicorns don't let just anyone ride them. You're likely to be sent off a cliff trying to clutch a fly who plays a harmonica if you dared to molest one in such a way.

Re:It's all true

[pushing-robot]

A unicorn isn't so tough. Oh sure, it can call on all the deep magics of the land, storms, curses, the whole bit, but the solution is obvious: Take away its magic*—pop!—and now your vaunted unicorn is only a large, strong, intelligent animal that impales people.

* this has not been conclusively proven impossible.

Size, range and much hype...

[AHuxley]

You would need a huge conventional device if you wanted to create the press vision of destructive field at any useful strength over distance.
Real military devices are hardened and ready by design for nuclear related EMP. The Swiss bunkers show planning for such events in the real world at a civilian bunker setting over many, many years.
The other option is a low yield nuclear device with the desired characteristics - again something military devices are hardened and ready by design.
Or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite_bomb to go after an electrical supply grid.
So the military was always ready.

Re:Size, range and much hype...

[cold fjord]

A., one of the trends of the last several decades is much greater use of OTS (Off The Shelf) equipment in the military. That is just buying existing commercial equipment without all of the traditional MILSPEC type hardening that would have been done in the past. That has meant much quicker fielding times, and more current technology, but at the cost of much greater vulnerability to EMP and other associated effects. Some recent prime examples would be the tablet PCs the military is deploying, and various low level tactical communications gear. There are others.

Re:Size, range and much hype...

[AHuxley]

Serbia, Iraq shows that the lights off out and stay off for a while. What can utility crews do? Race back to the supply depo and pick up a limited amount of just in time expensive stock and patch up a section of grid connected what?
As for EMP in the real world - creating a useful field is the unique physics per device size or weight gets strange with expected range focused on military equipment thats shielded...
There is no 'win' with easy with EMP unless you go nuclear to form the EMP. The huge conventional forces needed to create the 'needed' EMP will have more range than the produced EMP.

Re:Size, range and much hype...

[cold fjord]

Anyone thinking of using an EMP weapon against the US should carefully consider the consequences. It would almost certainly destroy any ability to use Powerpoint in the military, and as a result it is likely that military effectiveness of US forces could easily double.
 

Re:Size, range and much hype...

[guttentag]

North Korea's real weapon is fear. Has been for decades.

South Korea has the world's 15th-largest economy, but it is largely driven by electronics exports. North Korea has been threatening nuclear weapons for so long it's like the boy who cried wolf. The world knows the North is not going to resort to a nuclear strike unless something goes very, very wrong. So it needed a new, more-plausible boogie man. What better, and cheaper, to scare the world into giving it economic aid than the threat of an EMP strike that could cripple the South's economy? It wouldn't set the North back that far, and the world's response would be far less punitive than the response to a nuclear strike.

Of course, it's quite likely the North lacks the ability to deliver an effective EMP weapon, just as it lacks the ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the U.S. But to the masses, its just believable enough thanks to Western media plot devices. Did your parents ever waste electricity leaving a night light on to keep the monsters away from your bed at night? They knew there were no monsters, but it was a small cost compared to having you spend the night in their room. Likewise, the North is betting that the first world governments would rather spend a token amount on aid than waste all their time trying to reassure their citizens that the EMP monster isn't really going to take away their TVs/smartphones/etc.

And let's not forget...

[subreality]

Let's not forget that North Korea has also achieved nuclear fusion, developed a super drink that can cure aging and disease, and found a "unicorn lair" last year.

And let's not forget that the US has achieved democracy, developed a universal healthcare plan to cure aging and disease, and found WMDs in Iraq.

Our bullshit is more refined but equally pervasive.

Re:And let's not forget...

[Anonymous Coward]

>US has achieved democracy

yes she actually has, and after world war II defended it even on other places like western europe (where i am from)

the self loathing of the west (here in europe and in the U.S.), and the constant ridiculing of democracy is striking.

if the motive for such comments is an expression of disappointment with some of the weaknesses of the current democratic system then ok i understand. But if somebody REALLY believes that our democratic system (with all its weaknesses) is "just as bad" as a dictatorship (like in north korea), then i can only suggest to pick up a history book and make a reality check

Re:And let's not forget...

[Neil Boekend]

That the corporate democracy in the USA isn't as bad as a dictatorship doesn't mean it is the golden solution.
No, from all that I can see the USA doesn't have a democracy anymore. It has corporate democracy and that is quite a different beast.

Re:And let's not forget...

[margeman2k3]

Governments might be chosen by the people, but it's the corporations who actually influence policy.

so kim jong un is watching james bond movies

[circletimessquare]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldenEye

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Another_Day

What are you smoking

[Anonymous Coward]

Given the frivolous nature of the comments on this article thus far it seems that few of you have ever considered the effects of a serious EMP attack on your way of life. The mere fact that NK can put something in orbit means they don't necessarily have to have the tech to deliver it to the us as you would a ballistic missile, but just wait for the oppotune time to de-orbit it. In addition, the US happens to be in a location where the earth's magnetic field can significantly enhance the effect of a NEMP. My admittedly hazy memory says the effect of catastrophic failure of US power infrastructure from a well placed NEMP was 70% of the population due to starvation, rioting and the other horsemen of the apocalypse. In addition, the estimate was decades to restore full services if you even could under such circumstances.

Re:What are you smoking

[flyingfsck]

No, I think 70% of the population will die due to exageration. The other 99% will carry on as usual.

Re:What are you smoking

[cold fjord]

Unfortunately EMP is a genuine serious threat, and North Korea poses a potential threat not just to the US, but to Australia, Japan, and other nations as well.

Inside the Ring: North Korean missiles deemed a serious threat to U.S.
'North Korea's nuclear weapons could hit UK': Alarm at David Cameron's claim

An EMP Could Cripple the U.S.

An EMP is a torrent of electromagnetic energy that disrupts and destroys electronic devices within an affected area. As a result of such an event, most electrical devices would fail, most cars would cease functioning, airplanes would fall from the sky, and critical infrastructure—such as water and sewers, banking, energy, transportation, information technology, and others—would shut down.

Importantly, the electrical components and transmission systems would be permanently destroyed, requiring enormous levels of repair and rebuilding. Huge swaths of the U.S. would be without even the most basic of services for years, and it could take decades to fully recover. The economic and human losses would be catastrophic.

EMP Attacks—What the U.S. Must Do Now

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack represents one of the greatest threats imaginable—to the United States and the world. An EMP occurs when a nuclear device is detonated high in the atmosphere—a phenomenon of which America’s enemies are well aware. The electromagnetic discharge can permanently disable the electrical systems that run nearly all civilian and military infrastructures. A massive EMP attack on the United States would produce almost unimaginable devastation. Communications would collapse, transportation would halt, and electrical power would simply be non-existent. Not even a global humanitarian effort would be enough to keep hundreds of millions of Americans from death by starvation, exposure, or lack of medicine. Nor would the catastrophe stop at U.S. borders. Most of Canada would be devastated, too, as its infrastructure is integrated with the U.S. power grid. Without the American economic engine, the world economy would quickly collapse. Much of the world’s intellectual brain power (half of it is in the United States) would be lost as well. Earth would most likely recede into the “new” Dark Ages.

A single nuke exploded above America could cause a national blackout for months.

One EMP burst and the world goes dark

Re:What are you smoking

[myowntrueself]

'North Korea's nuclear weapons could hit UK': Alarm at David Cameron's claim

I just want to point out that "alarm at David Cameron's claim" is actually "alarm that UK PM is delusional."

Let's not forget...

[mmontour]

Let's also not forget that North Korea successfully launched a satellite into a stable polar orbit (higher than the ISS). That first payload was a bit of a dud, but they have a proven ability to send a package over any part of the Earth's surface.

Re:No electronics in NK anymore

[EdIII]

You're funny.. but the truth is much much closer to this.

North Korea is all bluff and bluster. I've never seen a more faithful reenactment of The Animal Farm. There is a ruling class there that has all the shiny toys and entertainment from the "evil" imperialist countries. Why would they ever risk losing their own life styles for ideals that are nothing more than lip service?

Re:This should be encouraged

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

They weren't meant for use inside cities anyway. They were for fighting mass tank formations while minimizing the destruction to West Germany. Minimizing, not eliminating: they still had large blast and thermal effects.