NORAD Launches Annual Santa Tracking Event
Website Now Offers Phone Connection Feature
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which has tracked Santa Claus's location every Christmas, is once again launching its mission this year. Notably, starting this year, the website will offer a Korean-language phone service, allowing children in Korea to easily find out Santa's real-time location by phone.
According to the Associated Press on December 19 (local time), NORAD is introducing, for the first time, a 'website-based phone connection feature' for people living outside the United States.
NORAD, a joint military organization operated by the United States and Canada, was established to track aircraft across North America and defend against potential aerial threats. It primarily tracks airborne objects such as missiles and early warning satellites. As Christmas approaches, a special mission is added: tracking and informing the world’s children of Santa’s location as he delivers gifts. Since 1995, NORAD has provided a virtual service called 'NORAD Tracks Santa.' NORAD explains that it uses the same radar, satellites, and fighter jet escort systems deployed in real missions to track Santa.
Until now, residents of North America could call a dedicated Santa tracking hotline with a U.S. phone number (1-877-446-6723) to ask about Santa’s location, but starting this year, people in Korea can conveniently make calls through the website. NORAD releases tracking information through its Santa tracking homepage, and since 2023, has also provided a Korean-language service. The website currently supports nine languages, including English. Korean users can check Santa’s route on a map and through animations on the Korean-language page. According to NORAD records, on Christmas Eve last year, Santa stayed on the Korean Peninsula for about 3 minutes and 45 seconds, delivering over 20 million gifts to Korean children who had been good before departing.
The illustration is for better understanding of the article and is not related to the content. Pixabay
The NORAD Santa tracking service began in 1955 due to a misdialed call to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), NORAD’s predecessor. That year, a department store mistakenly published CONAD’s phone number in a newspaper ad as Santa’s number. Many children who saw the ad called the CONAD operations center, which was originally a private line. An Air Force colonel on duty at the time answered a child’s call asking, “Where is Santa now?” and provided the answer the child wanted. This tradition, which began then, has continued for 70 years.
NORAD states that it uses advanced technology to track Santa, who is said to travel faster than light. First, it checks for signs of Santa leaving the North Pole through 47 radar stations across North America. Once Santa’s takeoff is confirmed, satellites used to track missile launches are employed. These geostationary satellites are equipped with infrared sensors, which can detect the infrared signal from Rudolph’s nose. Afterward, Canadian fighter pilots in CF-18s greet Santa over Newfoundland, while in the United States, F-15, F-16, and F-22 fighter jets escort him. According to NORAD, Santa is actually faster than the fighter jets but deliberately slows down to receive the escort. Typically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then travels through New Zealand and Australia, passes through Asia-including Korea-and Africa, before reaching Western Europe, Canada, and the United States. However, NORAD notes that this route may change depending on weather conditions.
In addition to operating the website, NORAD mobilizes more than 1,250 staff and volunteers every year around Christmas Eve to handle calls and emails from around the world asking about Santa’s location. Santa’s real-time location can also be checked on various social networking services (SNS) such as Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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