Images released by North Korea in recent days show leader Kim Jong Un touring major defense-industry factories surrounded by attack drones, including models bearing a strong resemblance to Israel Aerospace Industries’ Harop loitering munition.
The images were distributed by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, following Kim’s visits to major munitions factories from September 16 to 18. State media said he reviewed production at the facilities and ordered further expansion and modernization of the country’s weapons industry.
(Photo: Korean Central News Agency)
The photographs appear intended to showcase North Korea’s growing capacity to manufacture unmanned weapons on a large scale. Some images show rows of one-way attack drones with a delta-wing configuration resembling the Israeli Harop. Independent defense reporting analyzing the images said dozens of similar aircraft could be seen inside the production facility.
During the inspections, Kim called for greater use of artificial intelligence in offensive and defensive weapons systems, increased automation and improved production capacity. He also focused on North Korea’s artillery forces and called for their continued modernization.
“Our artillery should have the most concentrated and destructive, massive and versatile offensive capability,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying. He said the force must be capable both of deterring war and fighting it.
The images released by state media appear to show production involving at least three types of unmanned aircraft: the Saetbyol-4, a large reconnaissance drone resembling the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk; the Saetbyol-9, an attack drone resembling the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper; and a smaller one-way attack drone launched from a vehicle that closely resembles the Israeli Harop.
South Korean defense analyst Shin Jong-woo said the sites visited by Kim appeared to include factories producing drones as well as 600 mm and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers. North Korean media did not identify the facilities or their locations.
North Korea first publicly displayed similar suicide drones during tests in August 2024. At the time, South Korean analysts noted that one of the designs resembled Israel’s Harop, while another appeared similar to Russia’s Lancet family of loitering munitions.
Three months later, in November 2024, Kim ordered the establishment of a production system for the weapons and called for their “full-scale mass production,” saying unmanned systems had become increasingly important in modern warfare.
North Korea continued developing its drone capabilities in 2025, when state media disclosed tests of Kumsong-series tactical attack drones and said Kim had made the advancement of artificial intelligence and the operational capabilities of unmanned weapons a priority in the modernization of the country’s armed forces.
The latest factory images suggest Pyongyang is now emphasizing not only the development and testing of unmanned aircraft, but its ability to manufacture them in quantity as part of a broader expansion of North Korea’s defense industry.