North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for the development and production of more “suicide drones” as the strongman oversaw a “performance test” of a variety of combat and spy drones, state run media reported Monday.
Kim viewed the test of several maritime and ground attack drones with different striking ranges by the North’s Drone Institute, part of its Academy of Defense Sciences, on Saturday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
The drones “all correctly identified and destroyed the designated targets after flying along different preset routes,” the report said.
Photos accompanying the report — the first time Pyongyang has made public the existence of its suicide drones — showed blurred images of two of the weapons attacking targets, including a dramatic image that showed one of the drones destroying what appeared to be mock-up of South Korea’s main K-2 battle tank.
Pointing to the growing importance of drones on the battlefield, Kim said that developing different types of the weapons and “steadily increasing their combat performance” are crucial “in preparing for a war.”
“It is necessary to develop and produce 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 said.
Drones, including kamikaze variations of the weapons, have featured prominently in the war in Ukraine — a fact that analysts say has not gone unnoticed by Kim.
The provenance of the suicide drones and other UAVs involved in the weekend test was unclear, but the weapons appeared to resemble drones such as the Hero 30, manufactured by Israel's UVision, and the Lancet model made by Russia's Zala Aero Group.
The similarities have raised suspicions that Moscow, which agreed to a wide-ranging defense pact with Pyongyang in June that includes military assistance, could be providing the North with the weapons or technology needed to build them.
A South Korean military spokesperson told the Yonhap news agency that more analysis was needed to determine if Russia had directly provided the North with the weapons. The spokesperson noted the gifting of drones in the past.
While the lion’s share of attention on North Korea’s illicit weapons production has focused on its long-range missiles intended to deliver nuclear bombs to the continental United States, Kim has also ordered a massive expansion of a variety of conventional and nuclear-capable autonomous weapons that could also endanger South Korean and Japanese forces.
Last December, Kim ordered the building of more spy and attack drones and the further development of electronic warfare capabilities, in addition to a ramped-up production of its nuclear bombs and powerful missiles.
At an arms exhibition and military parade in July last year attended by then-Russian defense chief Sergei Shoigu, Pyongyang unveiled for the first time two new types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that strongly resemble the massive U.S. Global Hawk and the medium-sized U.S. Reaper drones.
In January, North Korea said it had also tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone — purportedly designed to destroy naval vessels and ports — in response to a combined naval exercise by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
In Monday’s report, Kim called for “constantly developing” underwater strategic weapons systems as well as underwater suicide attack drones, while “proactively introducing artificial intelligence technology into the development of drones.”
He also stressed the need “to more intensively conduct tests for their combat application and equip ... units with them as early as possible.”
In addition to bolstering North Korea’s deterrence capabilities, some observers say Kim may also be using his weapons build-up to give him an advantage in the event of a return to talks with the United States following the November election of a new president.
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