Kim Jong-Un himself has overseen test firings of so-called patrol robots, designed to attack both land and sea targets by striking them.
“He emphasized the need to develop a system for mass production and start full-scale mass production as soon as possible,” writes KCNA.
Kim also claims that North Korea has recently placed emphasis on developing the unmanned systems.
Experts have determined, based on images from North Korea released in August, that the drones resemble Israeli as well as Russian-made counterparts. North Korea may have obtained access to the technology from Russia, which in turn may have obtained it from Iran. Iran is believed to have stolen the technology from Israel, AFP reports.
During the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, North Korea has delivered significant amounts of weapons to Russia. Recently, North Korea has also sent soldiers to the Russian border region of Kursk. The two countries entered into a pact this summer with mutual defense guarantees.