North Korea leader Kim Jong Un touts AI suicide drones, early-warning aircraft

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of suicide drones with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and said unmanned control and AI capability must be the top priorities in modern arms development, state media reported on Thursday.

Kim inspected new upgraded reconnaissance drones that are capable of detecting various tactical targets and enemy activities on land and at sea, KCNA state news agency said.

"The field of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence should be top-prioritized and developed in modernizing the armed forces," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

The nuclear-armed North also officially unveiled an airborne early-warning aircraft for the first time, a capability that could improve its aging air defence systems.

Photographs published by state media showed Kim climbing steps toward the door of a large aircraft with four engines and a radar dome mounted on the fuselage, and viewing the aircraft on a low fly-by.

Using commercial satellite imagery, analysts have previously reported that North Korea was converting the Russian-made Il-76 cargo aircraft for an early-warning role.

Such an aircraft would help augment the North's existing land-based radar systems, which are sometimes limited by the peninsula's mountainous terrain, London's International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report in September.

"The ability of an AEW aircraft to look down mitigates some of the challenges of the terrain and ground-clutter returns to track low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles," the report said.

One AEW aircraft would not be enough, however, and North Korea would risk canabilising the rest of its cargo fleet to build more, the report said.

South Korea's military said the aircraft's operational capability is not yet clear but its appearance indicated it is "large and heavy and probably susceptible to interception."

While the aircraft was refurbished from the existing fleet, "Russia may have had something to do the internal system and parts," Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told a briefing, when asked about possible Russian assistance.

Russia has provided North Korea with anti-air missiles and unspecified air defence equipment, in return for Pyongyang's deployment of troops to help with the Ukraine war, South Korea's national security adviser Shin Won-sik said in November.

Kim separately inspected newly developed equipment for reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, electronic jamming and attack systems, KCNA said.

Photos showed fixed-wing UAV zeroing in on a tank-shaped target then exploding in flames. Kim was seen walking with aides with what appeared to be an unmanned surveillance aircraft that resembles the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance aircraft parked on the tarmac in the background.

North Korean troops deployed in Russia's war against Ukraine are believed to have been engaged in drone warfare, gaining valuable battleground experience.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Additional reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Stephen Coates)