Kim Jong Un calls AI drone development “top priority”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the use of artificial intelligence (AI) a “top priority” in modernizing the country’s armed forces, specifically its unmanned drones.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the use of artificial intelligence (AI) a “top priority” in modernizing the country’s armed forces, specifically its unmanned drones.
Kim visited the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex in the capital Pyongyang on Thursday, overseeing the performance test of the unmanned weapons, according to North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
According to KCNA, Kim spent time learning about the application of various types of unmanned weapons, including tactical unmanned surveillance vehicles and multipurpose drones.
He said that as unmanned equipment becomes a key asset in modern warfare, expanding its use, advancing core technologies, AI, and operational capabilities is a top priority in modernizing the DPRK’s armed forces.
Kim also emphasized the need to focus on “rapidly developing the newly-introduced AI technology”, as well as “expanding and strengthening the serial production capacity of drones.”
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He approved and signed a document detailing a plan to strengthen the UATC’s technology on the same day. Kim’s focus likely indicates the importance of drone technology and artificial intelligence in North Korea’s strategic defense strategy.
The news comes just a week after Kim oversaw a test of a new solid-fuel rocket engine for the country’s ICBMs, which he called a “significant change in expanding and strengthening” North Korea’s strategic nuclear forces.
Earlier this year, Kim also inspected new AI-equipped suicide drones, with plans to expand the equipment’s production. At the same time, he made public the country's first airborne early-warning aircraft, used to give an aerial overview of a combat area.
In 2024, the UN said it was investigating $3 billion-worth of cyberattacks, which are potentially fuelling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.