Kim Jong Un Oversees Testing of North Korea’s Lethal New Drones—Suicide UAVs Unveiled

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un directed the on-site performance tests of UAVs and ordered their rapid deployment to military units.

According to state-run media, Kim Jong Un visited the National Defense Science Institute on Saturday to oversee strike tests of newly developed UAVs. During the visit, Kim emphasized the importance of advancing various UAV types and improving their combat capabilities to stay aligned with global military trends and battlefield experiences. He also directed developing and producing strategic reconnaissance UAVs, multipurpose UAVs, and diverse loitering munitions for tactical infantry and special operations units.

Specifically, he suggested the task and methods, saying, “We need to develop diligently on underwater strategic weapon systems, such as nuclear torpedoes, and various suicide attack underwater drones, under the characteristics of a maritime state located in between the ocean, also actively incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) technology into UAV development.”

Kim expressed satisfaction with the tactical and technical characteristics of the newly developed UAVs and urged that “We need to deploy these to the People’s Army units as soon as possible through more intensive combat application tests.”

KCNAThis marks the first public reveal of North Korean suicide UAVs. The timing and nature of this disclosure likely relate to North Korea’s arms exports to Russia, given that similar UAVs have been widely used in the Russo-Ukrainian War.

On that day, North Korean media featured images of two types of suicide UAVs painted in white, flying towards and exploding on simulated targets resembling K-2 tanks. The newspaper obscured the identification of the drones used in the tests. Some drones were shown flying toward designated targets, resulting in explosions. The two types of unveiled attack drones resemble the Israeli suicide drones IAI Harop and HERO-30.