North Korean state media reported that Pyongyang tested domestically produced drones aided by artificial intelligence (AI) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the testing of “various kinds of reconnaissance and suicide drones.”
KCNA said they were produced by the country’s “institutes and enterprises under the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complexwere.”
The outlet did not specify the name or the models of the drones being tested.
Official handout photos depicted a drone that visually resembles the US’s Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, as well as photos of explosions purportedly caused by the suicide drones.
KCNA claimed successful testing of the drones and released a photo of the reconnaissance drone in flight, but no video footage was made available.
“The test confirmed the innovative performance of a new-type strategic reconnaissance drone with the detective ability to track and monitor different strategic targets and enemy troops’ activities in the land and sea. And it fully demonstrated the striking capability of suicide drones to be used for various tactical attack missions,” KCNA reported.
It said the suicide drones utilized some form of AI without elaborating on the details.
“Kim Jong Un made an important assessment of the military effectiveness and strategic value of the strategic reconnaissance drone with improving performance and of the suicide attack drones to which new artificial intelligence was applied,” the report says.
KCNA, citing comments from Kim, said that unmanned systems are to be Pyongyang’s focus moving forward since they are “one of the important components of the armed forces modernization program.”
“Saying that the field of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence should be top-prioritized and developed in modernizing the armed forces, he stressed that it is important to work out a correct long-term national plan for promoting the rapid development of the work to use intelligent drones… in keeping with the trend of modern warfare in which the competition for using intelligent drones as a major means of military power is being accelerated and the range of their use is steadily expanding in military activities,” KCNA reported.
North Korea has deployed troops to Russia to fight against Ukrainian troops since late 2024, presumably as part of a mutual defense pact signed and subsequently ratified the same year.
It is believed that Pyongyang receives military technology from Russia in exchange for the troops, weapons and munitions sent to Moscow, but the exact terms and dealings of the defense pact between the two nations has never been publicized.
It is also believed that North Korean troops were sent to fight alongside Russian troops as part of Kim’s efforts to modernize Pyongyang’s military by gaining first-hand combat experience, as the Ukraine front has seen widespread drone deployment.
While initial reports said North Korean troops suffered heavy casualties due to their unfamiliarity with drones, one of the troops captured by Kyiv shrugged off the claim and said they have good marksmanship to shoot them down.