The government issued an alert early on Monday to brace for potential North Korean attempts to sabotage South Korea's Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise scheduled to begin next week.

The alert issued is the lowest level in a five-tier system.

In past years, the North attempted to disrupt global positioning system (GPS) signals during drills held in the South.

To prepare against another provocation leading to a state emergency situation, the Seoul government has established a joint response network of eleven ministries and agencies led by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

The science ministry is running on emergency mode and will set up a special task force with related organizations including mobile carriers and broadcasters to monitor North Korea's moves around the clock.

Other ministries will also monitor any disruption detected in GPS services in respective areas of national defense, aviation and sea travel.