Kim Jong Un Prioritizes AI to Boost North Korea’s Drone Capabilities

Post by : Meena Rani

North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has declared artificial intelligence (AI) a “top priority” for modernizing his country’s weapons technology and advancing drone capabilities.

During a visit to the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex in Pyongyang, Kim oversaw performance tests of multipurpose drones and unmanned surveillance vehicles. He stressed the need to “rapidly develop newly-introduced artificial intelligence technology” and called for expanding the “serial production capacity of drones.”

The visit comes just a week after Kim supervised a test of a new solid-fuel rocket engine intended for intercontinental ballistic missiles, describing it as a “significant” expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

Growing Military Strength

North Korea’s military capabilities include nuclear-armed ballistic and cruise missiles, an expanding nuclear stockpile, and a budding spy satellite program, according to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The country maintains an estimated one million active-duty personnel, supported by over seven million reservists in a population of roughly 25.6 million.

The country’s AI capabilities remain less clear. Independent analysis group 38 North reported that North Korea has conducted cross-border AI research collaborations with academics from the U.S., China, and South Korea despite sanctions, indicating “substantial efforts” to catch up in AI development. These efforts reportedly rely heavily on China, a global leader in AI technology.

Strategic Alliances

Under Kim, North Korea has also strengthened ties with Russia. Last year, Pyongyang signed a mutual defense treaty with Moscow. A German think tank noted that while North Korea supplied nearly $10 billion in weapons and tens of thousands of troops to support Russia in Ukraine, it received only $457 million to $1.19 billion in return, mainly in food, fuel, and military hardware.

Earlier this month, Kim appeared alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, signaling North Korea’s ambition to assert itself on the global stage.

The DIA recently highlighted that North Korea “is in its strongest strategic position in decades,” capable of threatening U.S. forces and allies in Northeast Asia while continuing to improve its reach against the U.S. Kim has criticized joint U.S.-South Korea military drills as “a rehearsal of a war of aggression” against his country.

Kim Jong Un drones, unmanned vehicles, AI weapons