North Korea’s Kim oversees drone test, orders AI development

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center right, and his daughter attend a completion and operation ceremony of Kangdong Greenhouse Farm in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 15, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of an attack drone and ordered greater research into possible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the technology, state media said Friday.

Pictures shared by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed the unmanned vehicle taking off and then destroying a target.

State media said the exercise demonstrated the “excellent combat effectiveness of Kumsong-series tactical attack drones” and that Kim expressed “great satisfaction”.

Drones are emerging as a “major military activity asset, raising it as a top-priority and important task in modernizing the armed forces of the DPRK,” Kim reportedly said, using the acronym for North Korea.

He also ordered “efforts to rapidly developing the newly-introduced artificial intelligence technology” as well as the “expanding and strengthening” of drone production capabilities.

Analyst Hong Min at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification said Kim sees drone technology as critical to securing “great power status”.

“The drones raise concerns because they offer low-cost, high-efficiency threats: autonomous mission execution, improved accuracy and lethality, suitability for mass production, and enhanced tactical flexibility,” he added.

Pyongyang unveiled its first attack drones last year and experts have warned its new capability in this area could be linked to its budding alliance with Russia.

Analysts also say North Korean troops sent to fight for Russia will be gaining modern warfare experience -- including how drones are used on the battlefield.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 -- primarily to the Kursk region -- along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.

Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said.