North Korea leader Kim orders mass production of suicide drones, KCNA says

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided a test of suicide drones and ordered a mass production of the aerial weapon, saying the introduction of such drones around the world requires an urgent update of military theory, state media said on Friday.

Kim had previously supervised the test of suicide drones, earlier in the year amid a rapidly developing military cooperation with Russia, raising questions as to whether he was receiving technical help from Moscow to develop them.

Also known as loitering munitions, such weapons have been widely used in the war in Ukraine as well as in the Middle East.

“(Kim) underscored the need to build a serial production system as early as possible and go into full-scale mass production,” state news agency KCNA said.

Kim said the competition for using drones for military purposes is accelerating around the world, with military authorities likely recognizing their success in conflicts of various scale.

“Such objective change urgently calls for updating many parts of military theory, practice and education,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

North Korea has sent drones across the border to the South flying for hours in key areas including the capital, Seoul, and over the no-fly zone surrounding the South Korean presidential office.

That has prompted South Korea to deploy weapons to shoot down North Korean drones.

North Korea and Russia have recently ratified a comprehensive strategic partnership that their leaders signed in June, which includes a mutual defence pact.

North Korea has deployed its troops to Russia’s western frontlines in the war with Ukraine, and South Korean and U.S. officials have said North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat against Ukraine alongside Russian forces.

(Reporting by Jack KimEditing by Sandra Maler)