In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong-un, center left in a black jacket, stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an undisclosed location in North Korea, earlier this week. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong-un, center left in a black jacket, stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an undisclosed location in North Korea, …
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw high-tech military developments on Wednesday and Thursday, as his huge, but old-fashioned, armed forces continue to climb the value chain.
But while high technologies and recent combat experience in Russia have likely added to the lethality of Mr. Kim’s 1.1 million strong military, new ISR — intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — assets could do more to stabilize, than destabilize, peninsula security, experts say.
North Korean state media photos monitored in South Korea showed Mr. Kim aboard an apparent Airborne Early Warning and Control System aircraft, believed to be the first AEW&CS plane deployed by the secretive state.
Pyongyang’s Korea Central News Agency also said he had overseen tests of AI-enabled suicide attack drones. Photos showing the AI-powered drones striking ground targets, including an armored vehicle.
The tests, “fully demonstrated … the striking capability of suicide drones” the KCNA reported. AEW&CS aircraft offer earlier radar-based warning of aircraft and missiles at greater ranges than ground radar stations, which are also – especially in North Korea — hampered by mountainous terrain.
Drones with onboard AI obviate remote-control guidance systems that can be electronically jammed.
In addition to the strike drones and the AEW&CS aircraft, the KCNA said that recent unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, tests showed off “the innovative performance of a new-type strategic reconnaissance drone … capable of tracking and monitoring different strategic targets and enemy troops’ activities on the ground and the sea.”
The KCNA report noted that developments were also underway in electronic jamming systems, and mentioned “trends in modern warfare” and “qualitative” military attainments.
Mr. Kim ordered a massive upgrade to his military in both firepower and technology terms at a party congress in 2021. His troops have recently gained cutting-edge first-hand experience in millennial warfare, allying with Russian troops to battle Ukrainian forces in Kursk.
The ongoing alliance, a follow-up to a bilateral “comprehensive strategic partnership” signed last in Pyongyang last year, has led many pundits to suggest that Russia is passing on military technologies to East Asia’s poorest, least industrialized state.
While Mr. Kim’s military technicians have customarily invested in kinetic assets — notably tactical rocketry, strategic missiles and nuclear warheads — they have lagged in ISR capabilities that make kinetic weapons more accurate and deadly.
It is something the state is working on. In 2023, North Korea successfully lofted a spy satellite into orbit, though it is not clear whether it is working correctly.
A meeting between Mr. Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the latter’s 2024 visit to Pyongyang, where he signed the bilateral partnership, took place at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a satellite launch station, in Russia’s Far East.
The AEW&CS plane looks to have Russian fingerprints. A specialist media site, The War Zone, said after an examination of the photos of Mr. Kim’s new plane, that it appeared to be based on a Russian Il-76 “Candid” cargo aircraft and shared some features with Russia’s A-50 “Mainstay” AEW&C model.
Meanwhile, North Korea has been supplying Russia with artillery and rocket ammunition from its vast stockpiles, and has deployed an estimated 11,000 to 13,000 troops, from its special forces/light infantry units, to fight alongside Russia against Ukraine.
North Korean forces have been positively assessed by Ukrainians who have fought against them: They have superior cohesion, determination, physical fitness and marksmanship than Russian units.
However, they have been criticized for their unawareness of drone warfare and for their reliance on unsupported infantry-assault tactics, that have led to heavy casualties.
In an interview last week, retired South Korean Special Forces Commander Gen. Chun In-bum noted that special forces in prosperous nations are force multipliers who orchestrate various forms of firepower, airpower and backup. North Korea’s special forces are different, he said.
Noting that North Koreans can “conduct one-way missions,” he said, “the courage of motivation that we see in North Korean soldiers is quite impressive,” he told South Korean-based Dimple Video last week. But he continued, “They lack the ability to integrate other kinds of elements like air power and satellite communications — things like that.”
Mr. Kim’s increasing ISR capabilities may — counterintuitively — have more impact on peace than war.
The War Zone noted that a single AEW&CS aircraft has limited usage — at least in wartime — for North Korea.
“The aircraft would … be a prime target for … the United States in time of conflict,” the media wrote. ”Instead, perhaps, it might have greater value for more routine operations, keeping tabs on movement over the border and providing valuable intelligence and day-to-day surveillance.”
An expert, speaking off-record, told The Washington Times that increased ISR assets could stabilize, rather than destabilize, peninsula security.
Given that spy operations in South Korea by North Korea — which constantly and shrilly accuses Seoul and Washington of hostile intent — have trailed off in recent years, advanced ISR assets could fill intelligence gaps and reassure North Korea’s leadership, the source suggested.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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