SEOUL, South Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the “mass production” of attack drones, state media reported Friday.
Pyongyang first unveiled its attack drones in August, with experts saying the capability may be attributable to the country’s budding alliance with Russia, AFP reports.
The nuclear-armed country has ratified a landmark defence pact with Moscow. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has warned about the potential transfer of sensitive Russian military technology to North Korea.
Kim on Thursday oversaw the tests of drones designed to hit both land and sea targets, produced by North Korea’s Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
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“He underscored the need to build a serial production system as early as possible and go into full-scale mass production,” KCNA said.
The unmanned drones are designed to carry explosives and be crashed into enemy targets, effectively acting as guided missiles.
Thursday’s test saw the drones “precisely” hit targets after flying along predetermined paths, KCNA reported.
“The suicide attack drones to be used within different striking ranges are to perform a mission to precisely attack any enemy targets on the ground and in the sea,” the agency said.
Russian tech?
Experts said the drones — in images released by state media in August — looked similar to the Israeli-made “HAROP” drone, Russian-made “Lancet-3” and Israeli “HERO 30”.
In 2022, Pyongyang sent drones across the border that Seoul’s military was unable to shoot down, saying they were too small.
This year, North Korea has been sending the South with trash-carrying balloons, in what it calls retaliation for the South floating anti-regime propaganda missives northwards.
The North has also accused Seoul of violating its sovereignty by flying drones over its capital Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets.
South Korea launched a drone operation command last year to better address the growing threat.
In October, the North amended its constitution to define South Korea as a “hostile” state, an illustration of a sharp deterioration in ties since Kim in January declared Seoul his country’s “principal enemy”.
