According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), its leader Kim Jong-un inspected the previous day's "tests of major weapons" which were part of the country's five-year plan for "modernizing the artillery and missile armed forces" to strengthen its defense capabilities.
The KCNA said the tests were aimed at analyzing and assessing tactical cruise missiles, as well as "the reliability of a 240-mm controlled artillery rocket" equipped with an ultra-precision autonomous navigation system and artificial intelligence (AI)-guided hit accuracy.
Kim expressed "great satisfaction" over the tests, saying they showed "great technical progress in the strengthening of our army's combat power."
He also praised the military "worth of the tactical cruise missile to be deployed at the long-range artillery brigades in the southern border area in particular," describing it as a powerful weapon system capable of striking targets 100 kilometers away with ultra-high precision.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the tests included weapons "Russia most needs on the Ukraine front," adding that North Korea's emphasis on "cutting-edge specifications" such as AI guidance and automated fire control appeared aimed at actively marketing them to Russia and highlighting military cooperation.
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