Seoul:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the “mass production” of attack drones, state media reported Friday, as concerns grow over the country’s deepening military cooperation with Russia.
Pyongyang first unveiled its attack drones in August, with experts saying the capability may be thanks to the country’s budding alliance with Russia.
The nuclear-armed country has ratified a historic defense treaty with Moscow and is accused of sending thousands of troops to Russia to support the war in Ukraine. This has prompted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to warn about the possible transfer of sensitive Russian military technology to North Korea. Korea.
Kim on Thursday oversaw 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.
“He underlined the need to build a series production system and move to large-scale mass production as early as possible,” KCNA said.
The unmanned drones are designed to carry explosives and deliberately crash them into enemy targets, effectively acting as guided missiles.
During Thursday’s test, the drones hit targets “precisely” after flying along predetermined paths, KCNA reported.
“The suicide bombing drones that will be used within various attack ranges are intended to carry out a mission to precisely attack enemy targets on the ground and in the sea,” the agency said.
Kim said the drones were an “easy-to-use part of combat power” because of their relatively low production costs and wide range of applications, according to KCNA.
He said the North has “recently attached importance” to the development of unmanned hardware systems and their integration into the country’s overall military strategy.
Russian technology?
Experts said the drones – in images released by state media in August – resembled the Israeli-made ‘HAROP’ drone, the Russian-made ‘Lancet-3’ and the Israeli ‘HERO 30’.
North Korea may have acquired these technologies from Russia, which in turn likely acquired them from Iran – with Tehran itself suspected of gaining access to these technologies through hacking or theft from Israel.
In 2022, Pyongyang sent drones across the border that Seoul’s military could not shoot down, saying they were too small.
This year, North Korea bombed the South with waste-carrying balloons in retaliation for activists in the South pushing anti-regime propaganda missions north.
The North has also accused Seoul of violating its sovereignty by flying drones over the capital Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets.
By mentioning the “production and practical deployment of various drones”, North Korea may be hinting that it could follow suit, Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
Pyongyang could “suggest the possibility of using balloons to distribute leaflets to the South with such drones,” Yang said.
“Given the effectiveness of drone strikes observed during the war in Ukraine, they could also be used effectively in the ongoing conflict there,” he added.
South Korea launched a drone operations command last year to better tackle the growing threat.
In October, the North amended its constitution to define South Korea as a “hostile” state, illustrating a sharp deterioration in relations since Kim declared Seoul his country’s “primary enemy” in January.
The North has continued to conduct ballistic missile tests that defy U.N. sanctions, and last month blew up the roads and railways connecting it to the South.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)