A North Korean drone strikes a target at an undisclosed location in this edited image issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Aug. 26, 2024. (KCNA)
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — North Korea’s leader recently oversaw the test of several domestically produced military drones, including one that struck a target that appeared to resemble the South’s main battle tank, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Jong Un and several senior government officials observed the drones identifying and destroying targets after taking flight at preset altitudes on Saturday in an undisclosed location, KCNA reported Monday.
North Korea must create more “suicide drones of various types” and use them in infantry and special operation units, Kim reportedly said during the demonstration.
He “stressed the need to more intensively conduct tests for their combat application and equip People’s Army units with them as early as possible,” KCNA reported.
Edited images released by KCNA appeared to show a drone striking an armored vehicle resembling South Korea’s K-2 Black Panther tank.
The drone’s X-shaped wing indicates it could be an explosive drone designed to loiter above an area until it identifies an armored target, such as a tank, Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said by phone Monday.
These drones typically have a range under 60 miles, Yang said, adding that other drones in the photos resembled those made by Israel and Iran, which have a range of roughly 620 miles.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects drones at an undisclosed location in this edited image issed by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Aug. 26, 2024. (KCNA)
North Korea demonstrated its drones five days into the United States and South Korea’s large-scale joint military exercise, Ulchi Freedom Shield. The Ministry of National Defense and U.S. Forces Korea describe the 11-day exercise over land, air and sea as a regularly scheduled defensive training.
Pyongyang likened the exercise instead to a “beheading operation,” according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement on Aug. 19.
In July 2023, North Korea unveiled two drones that resembled the U.S.-made MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk.
“Since last year, I think North Korea has wanted to show the world that they can see and attack with longer-range, high or mid-altitude drones,” Yang said. “This year they showed loitering munitions, which is a popular commodity in defense these days.”
South Korea’s military is analyzing the purported drones, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Chang-hyun said during a Monday news conference.
North Korea flew at least five drones into the South’s airspace, including over the capital city, on Dec. 26, 2022. The South scrambled fighter jets and helicopters to intercept the aircraft but failed to capture or destroy them.
In response to the aerial incursion, the South dispatched its own surveillance drones to photograph military installations north of the border that day.
A monthlong U.N. Command investigation concluded both Pyongyang and Seoul violated their armistice agreement with their flights.
On Sept. 1, 2023, the Ministry of National Defense activated its Drone Operations Command to address the threat posed by North Korean drones and to boost the military’s reconnaissance capabilities.
