Kim Jong Un Watches North Korea's Global Hawk Knockoff First Flight
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has hailed progress on drones built by his country's weapons developers, which include what appear to be clones of U.S. systems, and he stressed the importance of unnamed vehicles and artificial intelligence in modernizing his military, state media reported.
Why It Matters
Kim's promotion of indigenous drone technology and artificial intelligence indicates its importance in nuclear-armed North Korea's defense plans.
North Korea is facing off against South Korean and U.S. forces across one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers and the North's technological advances are closely watched. There have been reports that North Korea aims to ship its war drones to U.S. adversaries, including Iran and its proxy forces.
What To Know
North Korea state media said Kim attended a test organized by the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex.
"He learned in detail about the performance and combat application of various types of unmanned weapons and equipment, including strategic and tactical unmanned surveillance vehicles and multi-purpose drones being developed and produced," the Rodong Sinmum state newspaper reported.
Kim "expressed great satisfaction over the result," and noted that unmanned equipment was emerging as a major military asset.
Kim said it was "a top priority and important task in modernizing the armed forces of the DPRK to put on a highly developed basis the core technology of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence," the newspaper reported. Kim was referring to his country by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Source: Newsweek
