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In terms of air power, we have been confident of our overwhelming superiority, but now it seems clear that North Korean drones have emerged as a new variable.

It has been five years since 2017 that North Korean drones have invaded our airspace.

This is a North Korean drone that was discovered at the time. Unlike the single-cylinder engine drones sent by North Korea before that, it was equipped with a two-cylinder 50cc engine and flew for about 5 and a half hours to the THAAD base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, a distance of 490 km.

However, it crashed in Inje, Gangwon Province due to engine problems.

This drone is said to be similar in size to the drone five years ago, but it is possible that it is a new model with improved functions.



Reporter Moon Jun-mo will tell you about the power of North Korean drones.



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Since the early 1990s, North Korea has organized a squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Air Force to develop and train operating personnel.



It was in 2014, when North Korean drones crashed one after another in Baengnyeong Island, Paju, and Samcheok, that the reality of the drones, which could only be known through the military parade, was identified.



At this time, it was only a rudimentary level that could only spy on the metropolitan area, but three years later, in 2017, it was developed enough to fly to Seongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do with a two-cylinder engine.



[Han Min-gu/Then Minister of Defense (June 2017): If the so-called technological development has improved compared to 2014, the cruising distance has increased.]



It is known that Kim Jong-un is leading the development and mass production of North Korea's unmanned aerial vehicles, as Kim Jong-un's secretary general has been shown several times observing unmanned aerial vehicle pilot training.



In the '5-year plan for national defense science development' announced in January of last year, 'development of an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft with a flight distance of 500 km' was presented as a major goal.



North Korea currently has between 300 and 400 unmanned aerial vehicles, and as many as 1,000 unmanned aerial vehicles, according to military authorities.



A US military expert pointed out, "I'm sure North Korea has more sophisticated drones than they did five years ago."



Even in the actual war in Ukraine, it is evaluated that attack drones have changed the face of war.



Ukraine, which was inferior in the early stages of the war, turned the tide of the war by using drones, and in response, Russia is having a major impact on the war by striking power facilities with Iranian self-destruct drones.



North Korean drones also seem to require a higher level of alertness in that they can go beyond reconnaissance and be turned into offensive weapons at any time.



(Video editing: Ha Seong-won, CG: Lee Jong-jeong)



▶ North Korea, which has been firing missiles, this time, 'unmanned aerial vehicle provocation'...

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