North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has overseen tests of newly developed AI-powered suicide drones and called for their increased production, North Korean state media said Thursday.
Photos released from the communist country show Kim inspecting new upgraded reconnaissance drones that are capable of detecting various tactical targets and enemy activities on land and at sea, KCNA state news agency said.
Kim said unmanned control and AI capability must be the top priorities in modern arms development.
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In recent months, he has been emphasizing the development of drones, and the tests were the latest display of his country’s growing military capabilities.
“The field of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence should be top-prioritized and developed in modernizing the armed forces,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying of the “defense science research work.”
Kim was seen walking with aides with what appeared to be an unmanned surveillance aircraft that resembles the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance aircraft parked on the tarmac in the background.
Other images showed a fixed-wing drone zeroing in on a tank-shaped target then exploding in flames. Kim previously inspected other demonstrations of drones that explode on impact in November and August last year.
The agency said the test demonstrated the reconnaissance drone’s ability to track multiple targets and monitor troop movements on land and at sea, potentially enhancing North Korea’s intelligence-gathering operations and ability to neutralize enemy threats. The report said the new exploding drones are designed for various attack missions and feature unspecified artificial intelligence capabilities.
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Kim was also seen walking to a large aircraft with four engines and a radar dome mounted on the fuselage. Analysts have previously reported that North Korea was converting the Russian-made Il-76 cargo aircraft for an early-warning role to help augment the North’s existing land-based radar systems, which are sometimes limited by the peninsula’s mountainous terrain, London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report in September.
The drone display comes just weeks after North Korea revealed, for the first time, a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that could pose a major security threat to South Korea and the U.S.
It also comes as North Korea has been sending more missiles, artillery equipment and ammunition to help Russia — raising concerns that North Korea may receive Russian technology transfers in return.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea has said that North Korea could increase its weapons supplies further depending on the war situation. Russia and Ukraine recently agreed on a limited ceasefire, though both sides have accused each other of violations.
North Korea has sent approximately 11,000 military personnel to fight alongside Russia in the war against Ukraine in its first involvement in a large-scale conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War. The South Korean military assessed that around 4,000 of them have been killed or wounded.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
