North Korea boasts of the power of its new explosive drone

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un oversaw a demonstration of new exploding drones designed to crash into targets and pledged to spur development of such weapons to boost his military’s war readiness, state media reported Monday.

Kim has been showing off his growing military capabilities amid tensions with Washington and Seoul. North Korean photos of the test showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings apparently crashing into a target resembling South Korea’s K-2 main battle tank and destroying it. Most combat drones stay at a distance from targets and fire missiles.

The test, which state media reported took place on Saturday, came as the US and South Korean militaries are conducting a large-scale exercise aimed at improving their combined defense capabilities against growing North Korean nuclear threats.

The allies said the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which will continue through Thursday, are aimed at improving their preparedness for North Korean threats and will also reflect lessons learned from recent armed conflicts.

The United States and South Korea also separately began an amphibious landing exercise on Monday involving dozens of aircraft and vessels from their navies and marines, including U.S. F-35 fighters and the Boxer amphibious assault ship. The South Korean military said the Ssangyong exercise, which will continue through Sept. 7, is aimed at honing combat interoperability.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Saturday that the drone test involved several types of drones, built to move at different ranges to attack enemy targets on land and sea. It said the drones flew along various routes before accurately attacking test targets.

Kim said global trends in military technologies and modern combat show the importance of drones in warfare, and that the North Korean armed forces should be equipped with advanced drones as soon as possible.

He called for accelerated development and production of various drones that explode on impact, carry out reconnaissance work or attack underwater targets, KCNA said.

Lee Chang Hyun, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a press briefing that the South Korean military was closely examining North Korea’s capabilities in using drones, but he did not provide a detailed assessment. He said, without giving details, that the South Korean military has systems to detect and intercept such drones.

Some analysts have suggested that North Korean drones seen in state media photographs resemble Russia’s Zala Lancet-3 drones, and Lee said the South Korean government is considering the possibility that Russia may have helped North Korea acquire its drone capability.

“We are aware that during past exchanges between North Korea and Russia, some (drones to North Korea) were given as gifts,” Lee said. “We would need to look into various aspects, including whether (North Korea) had made modifications to them to improve their capabilities, or other possibilities.”