North Korea and the "suicide" drone

North Korea's acquisition of technology and battlefield experience in drone warfare opens a new era of potential provocations…

Reports in the Western media recently highlighted details of a Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) report on the visit of Kim Jong-un to the Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex (UATC) where he emphasized the need to mass produce drones and update military theory, practice and education to accomodate these changes.

While this was widely reported in sensationalist terms, such as “Kim orders the massproduction of suicide drones”, the desire to update the military to accomodate the dramatic transformation in warfare caused by unmanned aerial vehicles is no different from anywhere across the globe. The difference lies in North Korea’s adaptation. North Korea has a long history of engaging in military activities that draw international attention and impact regional security. These actions, ranging from missile tests to artillery strikes and cyberattacks, are deliberate and assumed to be carefully calibrated to achieve strategic or political objectives.

The aim in such targeted military actions is…