North Korea conducts performance test of suicide drones, Kim calls for integrating AI in UAV development

Asia-Pacific, News August 28, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

4 minute read

North Korea conducted a performance test of various drones organized by the Drone Institute of the Academy of Defence Sciences on August 24, 2024. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the drone test and highlighted the importance of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into the development of drones.

According to the North Korean state media KCNA statement, “Kim Jong Un got firsthand information on the drones under development by the Drone Institute.”

The North Korean leader was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Jo Yong Won, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of WPK Ri Pyong Chol, senior party and military official Pak Jong Chon, as well as other senior officials of the WPK Central Committee.

During the performance test, various North Korean drones were used within different striking ranges and performed missions to attack and destroy enemy targets on the ground and in the sea. The KCNA statement highlighted that various drones “correctly identified and destroyed the designated targets after flying along different preset routes.”

Photos released by the KCNA showed at least four types of drones. The loitering munitions were shown attacking different targets, including a mock tank, by crashing into it with a built-in warhead. Some of the images showed drones being launched using small rocket engines before their propellers took over.

After overseeing the drone performance test, Kim Jong Un highlighted the importance of developing more suicide drones of various types to be used in “tactical infantry and special operation units,” as well as strategic reconnaissance and multi-purpose attack drones.

The North Korean leader Kim said, “Developing different types of drones and steadily increasing their combat performance take an important share in preparing for a war in view of the trend of world military science and combat experience on battlefields.”

*^{North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees performance test of drones. (Image Credit: KCNA/IRIA)}*

Kim also highlighted the urgency to pace the development of various types of unmanned underwater suicide attack craft and proactively introduce artificial intelligence technology into the development of drones.

Kim Jong Un expressed satisfaction with the tactical and technological specifications and data of the newly-developed drones and stressed the need to more intensively conduct tests for their combat application and equip the Korean People’s Army units with them as early as possible.

North Korea vows to bolster its nuclear force

Last week, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed serious concerns over the U.S. administration’s revised “nuclear weapons employment planning guidance” and termed it as a threat. The North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the United States is pursuing the “unilateral nuclear edge while going against the desire of the international community for global peace.”

“The coordination of nuclear posture of the U.S., which has kept the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, has a serious negative impact on the global nuclear balance, security environment, and nuclear disarmament system,” it added.

North Korea also vowed to push forward the development of its nuclear force to “firmly defend” its sovereignty and security interests. “The DPRK will as ever bolster up its strategic strength in every way to control and eliminate all sorts of security challenges that may result from the U.S. dangerous nuclear posture readjustment, and resolutely counter any type of nuclear threat,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.