ShareSEOUL: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of new suicide and reconnaissance drones featuring AI technology, state media said Thursday, adding to concerns over Pyongyang’s deepening military cooperation with Russia. Pyongyang unveiled its attack drones in August, with experts saying the new capability could be attributable to the country’s budding alliance with traditional ally Russia.
The nuclear-armed country has ratified a landmark defense pact with Moscow and is accused of deploying thousands of troops to Russia to support its war in Ukraine. Seoul has repeatedly warned about the potential transfer of sensitive Russian military technology to North Korea in return for troops and weapons to support Moscow’s war with Kyiv.
Kim on Thursday oversaw tests of “various kinds of reconnaissance and suicide drones” produced by North Korea’s Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The new-type strategic reconnaissance drones are capable of “tracking and monitoring different strategic targets and enemy troops’ activities on the ground and the sea”, it added. The suicide drones also demonstrated the striking capability “to be used for various tactical attack missions”, according to KCNA. Kim evaluated the improved performance of these drones, which have been equipped with “new artificial intelligence”, KCNA reported. He also agreed to a plan “for expanding the production capacity”, KCNA added.
Kim said, “the field of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence should be top-prioritized and developed in modernizing the armed forces.” He also emphasized creating a “state long-term plan for promoting the rapid development of the work to use intelligent drones”. This is in keeping with “the trend of modern warfare in which the competition for using intelligent drones as a major means of military power.”
Experts have warned that North Korean troops sent to fight for Russia will be gaining crucial modern warfare experience, including how drones are now used on the battlefield. Kim also expressed “great satisfaction” over the fact that “new electronic jamming and attack weapon systems began to be produced”, KCNA reported. North Korea has staged GPS jamming attacks on the South multiple times, an operation that affected several ships and dozens of civilian aircrafts in the country. The report comes four months after Kim ordered the “mass production” of attack drones that are designed to carry explosives and be deliberately crashed into enemy targets, effectively acting as guided missiles. In 2022, Pyongyang sent drones across the border that Seoul’s military was unable to shoot down, saying they were too small. — AFP
