North Korea on Monday unveiled what is believed to be the country’s first domestically produced suicide drone and other combat vehicles amid reports that communist dictator Kim Jong Un will take part in drone performance tests this weekend.
Kim Emphasized The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said it was necessary for North Korea to “further develop and produce various types of suicide drones for use by tactical infantry and special operations forces.”
Also known as suicide drones Loitering WeaponsA suicide drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with explosives that identifies a target, flies into it and detonates its payload. The most well-known model of suicide drone currently in use is the Iranian “Shahed” class drone, which Ukraine has accused Russia of deploying on its territory, and which Tehran itself has failed to do. Used The drones are scheduled to target Israel in April. The appeal of these drones is their relatively cheap manufacturing process compared to traditional drones. Cheap and famous The Turkish drone “Bayraktar” is being used by Ukraine in its anti-Russia measures.
Korean Central News Agency Reported On Monday, a report said Kim Jong Un considers the development and mass production of suicide drones crucial to defending the country against any potential attacks by South Korea or the U.S. The outlet offered few details about what drones were present at the event attended by the dictator, beyond asserting that all drone tests were successful.
“Various types of drones accurately identified and destroyed the designated targets after flying along different set routes,” the Korean Central News Agency claimed. “Officials, scientists and researchers from the Drone Research Institute under the Academy of National Defense Sciences were filled with growing emotion as they looked up at him. [Kim Jong-un] He personally oversaw the testing on-site.”
Kim called for a major increase in investment in developing suicide drones and also mentioned another weapon reportedly in his arsenal, an underwater nuclear weapons system, revealed by state media in January.
The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim’s remarks as follows: “He called for the continued development of various types of unmanned underwater suicide attack vessels, as well as underwater strategic weapon systems such as nuclear torpedoes, and chose to actively introduce artificial intelligence technology into drone development, outlining specific tasks and methods for achieving this.”
Korean Central News Agency Published The photo purportedly shows a combat drone. The white flying machine matches the all-white outfits worn by Kim Jong Un and other Communist Party officials in propaganda photos. The photo also blurs out parts of the purported suicide drone to hide design details, likely for security reasons.
Korean Newspapers Korea JoongAng Ilbo Reported These are the first suicide drones the Kim regime claims to possess, in an apparent move to join an international military trend, with South Korean officials describing the expanded drone program as a “key element” of North Korea’s strategy for the near future.
“Analysts have noted similarities between the North Korean drone and the Russian Lancet-3, Iranian Shahed, Israeli Hero-30 and IAI Harop drones, all of which are loitering weapons designed for anti-tank and long-range missions.” Central News was observed.
The similarities to Russian drones have led some observers to suggest that Moscow may be sharing military and technical information with Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have met more frequently in person over the past year, most recently in June, when Putin visited Pyongyang for the first time in more than two decades.
But in September, Kim Jong Un traveled by train to eastern Russia, where he met with President Putin and senior military officials. On his return, Kim received a trove of gifts from Russia, including “five suicide drones and a Geran-25 vertical take-off reconnaissance drone,” according to Russia’s TASS news agency. The Russian government strongly denied that the gifts violated U.N. sanctions against North Korea, which Moscow also strongly opposes.
“There has been an exchange of gifts between North Korea and Russia in the past. [of drones]”However, further analysis is needed to determine whether these facts are true,” Lee Chang-hyun, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Monday. [drones] It has been upgraded or modified for use.”
During their last summit in Pyongyang in June, Putin and Kim signed a “comprehensive” military pact that obligated each side to defend the other if attacked, reviving an earlier Soviet-era treaty arrangement. The document alarmed some European observers, who worried that North Korea might interpret attempts to stop a full-scale invasion of Ukraine as an attack on Russia under treaty terms, necessitating North Korean intervention in a war.
Ukrainian leaders surprised Moscow by escalating their threats with a direct invasion of Russian territory on Aug. 6. Russia responded on Monday with one of its most far-reaching attacks on Ukraine’s power grid since the full invasion began. In a speech about the attack, President Zelensky suggested North Korea was already involved in the war.
“Russia uses all its weapons, as well as Shahed drones and North Korean ballistic missiles, but those who defend life should not be subject to any restrictions on weapons,” Zelensky said. saidHe called on allies to allow Ukraine to attack Russia indiscriminately: “The United States, Britain, France and other partners have the power to help us stop terrorism. We need to make a decision.”
Just before the new drone was announced, the Korean Central News Agency Published In a lengthy statement on Saturday, the United States accused NATO of inciting Ukraine to launch a counter-invasion of Russia and threatening North Korea and its ally, China.
“NATO’s 75-year history, stained by a record of merciless massacres and wars, proves that NATO is a criminal constellation of evil hegemonic forces obsessed with the ambition of total domination,” North Korea’s state media declared, citing a purported “white paper” from the regime. “The current Ukraine crisis is the latest eloquent testimony of NATO’s unchanging, sinister intentions to dominate and seize global hegemony.”
