What Do Experts Make of North Korea's Drone Capabilities?

North Korea showcased the modernization of its military capabilities through a drone exhibition and live-fire drills. Experts focused on the country's development of drones reflecting its experience on the battlefield in Ukraine, and said it appeared to be seeking to strengthen its ability to carry out combined strikes by pairing drones with multiple rocket launchers and missiles.

The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 30th that it held the "Unmanned Aerial Technology Development-2026" exhibition on the 29th. Yonhap News Agency

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported on the 30th that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the "Unmanned Aerial Technology Development-2026" exhibition the previous day. Kim was accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and their daughter, Ju Ae. Also accompanying him were Pak Jong Chon, vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Military Commission; Ri Pyong Chol, the party's chief adviser on munitions policy; Defense Minister Kim Song Gi; party secretaries Cho Yong Won and Jo Chun Ryong; Kim Jong Sik, first vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee; and Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.

The news agency said that the event also featured demonstrations of suicide drones, multipurpose drones, cruise missiles and 600-mm multiple rocket launchers, claiming that island targets were struck with precision. Kim said, "We must continue to make the advancement of core technologies in this field, the incorporation of artificial intelligence into unmanned weapons systems, and the enhancement of their operational capabilities our top priorities in building up our military capabilities."

Experts said the exhibition appeared to be an effort to showcase drone technologies used in modern warfare and demonstrate that North Korea is modernizing its military capabilities accordingly.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "The various types of drones on display are weapons actually being used in the war in Ukraine." He added, "They also unveiled fiber-optic drones, which are being used extensively on actual battlefields." He continued, "South Korea has recently been unveiling drones, and North Korea is responding in kind, making a point of showing that it also possesses these weapons. It is an effort to demonstrate that it, too, is equipped with such weapons in keeping with the nature of modern warfare."

Attention should also be paid not only to the performance of the drones themselves but to how they are used in combination with other strike capabilities. Yoo Jihoon, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said, "This reflects an intention to strengthen firepower and strike capabilities by combining various weapons systems."

Im Eulchul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the display "suggests that North Korea is accelerating a qualitative shift from a traditional focus on firepower to unmanned and intelligent systems." He said North Korea had showcased its combined strike capabilities by presenting suicide drones, cruise missiles, multipurpose drone attacks and 600-mm multiple rocket launcher fire together.

However, it is difficult to determine the drones' actual ability to evade detection based solely on their appearance at the exhibition or North Korea's announcements. Yoo said, "It is unclear whether the stealth-type drones actually have low-observability capabilities, but if they are deployed, they will be harder for us to detect." He added, "We need to continue monitoring how these capabilities develop and the possibility of technological cooperation with Russia."

Some have also argued that the response should not be limited to missile defense. Yoo warned, "If low-cost suicide drones, multiple rocket launchers and various types of missiles are combined and used simultaneously, they would place a tremendous burden on our military's air defense systems." He added, "We need to strengthen our ability to detect, identify and intercept North Korean drones and comprehensively develop our electronic warfare response systems." He also advised, "North Korea may try to neutralize our defenses through electronic attacks, so we need to establish response systems for those as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.