Contact: Rev. Eric Foley, Seoul USA, 719-481-4408

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 17, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Seoul USA, a Korean-American NGO that launches bibles and gospel flyers into North Korea began attaching GPS tracking devices to its balloon payloads in April in order to gather landing data to further refine their launch effectiveness.

Seven days after the first launch equipped with GPS tracking, North Korea began widely blocking GPS signals originating in South Korea.

"North Korea has been jamming GPS signals on and off since April 28," says the Rev. Eric Foley, CEO of Seoul USA. "The jamming disrupts passenger air flights and ships. They'll stop for a few days, deny that they did it, and then start the jamming all over again. The South says the jamming signals are coming from somewhere near the southwestern city of Kaesong, near the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. This is precisely the area where Seoul USA's payloads have been shown to land."

Foley notes that the jamming reveals just how concerned North Korea is over the balloon launches. "North Korea doesn't fear military might. They have the fourth largest army on the planet -- 1.2 million soldiers. And they have the largest contingent of Special Forces in the world, even more than the United States or China. Economic sanctions don't really slow them down -- 80% of their economy is underground. They make a billion dollars a year from weapons sales, heroin trafficking, and money laundering. But what does concern them is the spread of the gospel, which is the only direct and serious challenge to the message that Kim Il Sung is god and that he and his offspring deserve the unquestioned allegiance of the North Korean people."

To stop the spread of that message, says Foley, North Korea will stop at nothing.

Individuals interested in learning more about Seoul USA's balloon launches, radio broadcasts, and volunteer and donation opportunities for standing with the North Korean underground church can visit www.seoulusa.org.