North Korea’s Kim oversees exploding drone tests as US and Seoul stage drills

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a demonstration of new exploding drones designed to crash into targets, state media said on Monday, as the US and South Korea engage in joint military drills.

North Korean test photos showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings supposedly crashing into and destroying a target resembling South Korea’s main K-2 battle tank. Most combat drones stand away from targets and fire missiles.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Saturday’s test involved various types of drones built to fly different ranges to attack enemy targets on land and sea, and flew along various routes before accurately hitting test targets.

After the test, Mr Kim pledged to spur the development of drones that explode on impact, conduct reconnaissance or attack targets underwater to boost his country’s war readiness, saying the North’s military should be equipped with advanced drones “as early as possible”, KCNA said.

The drone test came as the US and South Korean militaries carry out the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which continue until Thursday.

The exercises focus on enhancing their readiness against North Korean threats and include computer-simulated war games and live-fire training, with a combined aerial drill involving 60 warplanes that began its three-day run on Monday.

South Korea’s air force said the drill, which kicked off with precision-bombing demonstrations that included South Korean F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, is aimed at coping with North Korean threats posed by drones, cruise missiles and artillery.

Also on Monday, the US and South Korea also began a separate amphibious landing drill involving dozens of aircraft and vessels from their navies and marines, including US F-35 fighters and amphibious assault ship USS Boxer.

South Korea’s military said the Ssangyong Exercise, which will continue until September 7, is aimed at sharpening combat interoperability.

Lee Chang Hyun, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing that South Korea’s military is closely examining North Korea’s drone capabilities and that the South’s military is equipped with systems to detect and intercept them. He did not provide further details.

Some analysts suggest the North Korean drones shown in state media photos resemble Russia’s Zala Lancet-3 drones, and Mr Lee said the South is looking into the possibility that Russia had helped North Korea acquire its drone capability.

“We are aware that during the past exchanges between North Korea and Russia that some (drones) were given (to North Korea) as gifts,” he said. “We would need to analyse various aspects, including whether (North Korea) would have modified to improve their capabilities or other possibilities.”

North Korea and Russia have been aligning closely in the face of their separate confrontations with the US. Mr Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin held summits this June and in September last year.

Washington and its allies have accused the countries of expanding an alleged arms arrangement in which North Korea provides Mr Putin with badly needed munitions to prolong Russia’s fighting in Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and technologies to upgrade Mr Kim’s nuclear-armed military.

Animosity on the Korean Peninsula is high as Mr Kim uses Russia’s war against Ukraine as a distraction while he strengthens his nuclear-armed military and issues verbal threats of conflict toward Washington and Seoul.

While most of the international attention has been focused on his long-range missiles designed to reach the US mainland, he has also been expanding weapons targeting rival South Korea, most notably short-range missiles and artillery systems the North has described as nuclear-capable.

Earlier this month, Mr Kim staged a huge ceremony in the capital, Pyongyang, to mark the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline military units and called for a ceaseless expansion of the military’s nuclear programme.

This added to concerns as he demonstrated an intent to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons along the North’s border with South Korea and claimed his military could react with pre-emptive nuclear strikes if it perceived the leadership was under threat.

In a closed-door briefing to politicians on Monday, South Korea’s spy agency said it is unclear whether North Korea is currently capable of producing enough missiles to fill up those launch vehicles, which are each designed to fire multiple missiles with potential range to cover most of South Korea’s greater capital area and central regions.

The agency said the North has been focusing its manufacturing capacities on producing missiles and other military equipment that are being supplied to Russia, according to the office of politician Park Sun-won, who attended the briefing.

Analysts say Mr Kim may seek to dial up pressure in a US election year as he advances his long-term goals of forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.