North Korea’s Kim tests AI-powered missile

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Credit: AFP.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of a missile which allegedly used artificial intelligence to adjust its trajectory, state media reported on Sunday.

The AI technology means the missile is “capable of changing its flight orbit at a low altitude,” Kim’s sister had said, adding that this meant there was “no way to avoid” an attack.

It launched from an area around the eastern coastal city of Wonsan early Saturday morning and flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles), South Korea’s military said.

“Through today’s launching drill, the strategic missile soldiers have fully demonstrated their professional qualifications and counterattack posture,” Kim said after the launch, according to an English-language dispatch by the official Korean Central News Agency.

“We must continue our responsible efforts nonstop to constantly and repeatedly make the enemy recognise the reliability and fatality of our strategic offensive means,” he added.

Seoul’s military disputed Kim’s sister’s remarks that there would be “no way to avoid” the projectile guided by AI, saying the missile launched on Saturday could have been intercepted.

“South Korea and the United States maintain a firm combined defence posture and assess that the missile recently launched by North Korea was well within the detection and interception capabilities of the defensive assets operated by the two allies,” Seoul’s defence ministry said in a statement.

“We urge North Korea to immediately cease actions that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” it said, adding that the launch violated UN Security Council resolutions.

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The KCNA report disclosed the exact coordinates where the missile hit its target, a level of detail analysts said reflected Pyongyang’s “confidence.”

“This time, the North disclosed the coordinates down to decimal points — equivalent to a precision of roughly 30 centimetres,” Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP.

“It shows Kim’s stance that there is nothing to hide and an expression of confidence.”

Photos released by KCNA showed a missile soaring into the sky in a burst of orange flame.

Another photo showed Kim smiling, flanked by his daughter Ju Ae and wife Ri Sol Ju, who is seen clapping her hands in celebration.

Ju Ae, who was first introduced to the public in 2022, is the most likely successor to her father, according to South Korea’s spy agency, citing her increasingly prominent role at major state and military events.

The launch was conducted to help train soldiers operating the “hypersonic strategic weapon system,” KCNA reported.