Korean Central News Agency via KCNA Watch
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was all smiles as he watched a demonstration of new, exploding “suicide drones” designed to blow up their targets on contact.
A photo released by state media on Monday showed Kim grinning broadly as he sat behind a desk, wearing a white jacket and tan cap while surrounded by subordinates as they all apparently looked out at an airfield.
Other images showed a white drone with X-shaped wings and tails plunging toward a target that the Associated Press said resembled South Korea’s main K-2 battle tank, followed by a large, fiery blast that sent pieces of metal flying.
Korean Central News Agency via KCNA Watch
Various drones “correctly identified and destroyed the designated targets after flying along different preset routes,” North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said, according to the KCNA Watch website.
The tests took place Saturday and were organized by the Drone Institute of the Academy of Defence Sciences, the KCNA said.
Kim reportedly expressed “satisfaction” and ordered more tests so North Korea’s army could be equipped with the drones as soon as possible.
Most combat drones are designed to approach their targets and fire missiles, as opposed to carry out kamikaze missions, AP said.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters that the South Korean military was looking into the possibility that the drones tested Saturday involved Russian “gifts” that may have been “modified to improve their capabilities.”
The tests took place as the U.S. and South Korea conducted more than a week of annual, large-scale military exercises that are scheduled to continue through Thursday.
