By Jack Kim
SEOUL, May 27 (Reuters) - North Korea has tested a mix of tactical ballistic missiles, artillery rockets and AI-guided precision cruise missiles designed for modern warfare under leader Kim Jong Un's supervision, KCNA state news agency said on Wednesday.
Having advanced the development of a series of long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons capabilities, North Korea has been steadily upgrading its tactical and conventional arsenal, vowing to deploy it near the border with South Korea.
The tests assessed the power of a "special mission warhead" on tactical ballistic missiles, the reliability of long-range multiple-launch artillery rockets and the accuracy of AI-guided tactical cruise missiles, KCNA said.
Kim said the tests showed the weapons and automated launch systems have been successfully upgraded to "suit the proper conditions of modern warfare so as to enhance their application to combat," according to KCNA.
The tests in particular confirmed the combat readiness of cruise missiles that will be deployed at artillery units near the border with South Korea equipped with precision navigation and AI-guided control that can strike targets at 100 km (62 miles), Kim said.
Central Seoul, the densely populated capital of South Korea, is well within 100 km of the Demilitarized Zone border with the North, which has called the South its "primary foe" and disavowed the policy of eventual unification.
The reported terminal guidance system of the cruise missile appears to be the first time North Korea has publicly referred to incorporating AI in missiles - a technology that maps and locks in the target using real-time data, analysts said.
"It's about using AI when recognising the target and guiding the missile," said Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. The North has previously said it had used AI technology in its drones.
Hong Min at the Korea Institute for National Unification said the North's claim likely involves an upgraded version of an existing digital guidance system combined with automatic target recognition technology, although the degree of its sophistication is impossible to verify from the report.
North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and artillery rockets since late 2023 that are used by Moscow in the war against Ukraine. The use of those weapons is believed to have given Pyongyang valuable battlefield data for its arsenal.
South Korea's military said on Tuesday it detected the launch of multiple projectiles, including a ballistic missile.
(Reporting by Jack Kim, Joyce Lee; Editing Jamie Freed and Ed Davies)
