North Korea says Kim oversaw missile using AI

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of a missile that Pyongyang says used artificial intelligence to adjust its trajectory, state media reported Sunday, after South Korea said the weapon flew more than 700 kilometres from the Wonsan area.

South Korea’s military said the missile was launched early Saturday from around the eastern coastal city of Wonsan toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan. It did not give further details in the latest account.

Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister, said the AI technology made the missile “capable of changing its flight orbit at a low altitude” and meant there was “no way to avoid” the attack.

KCNA said the launch was a drill to train soldiers operating a “hypersonic strategic weapon system”. It quoted Kim Jong Un as saying the drill showed the soldiers’ readiness and the reliability of North Korea’s strategic weapons.

Photos released by KCNA showed a missile rising into the sky and Kim Jong Un smiling beside his daughter Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju. South Korea’s spy agency has described Ju Ae, who first appeared publicly in 2022, as the most likely successor to her father, citing her growing presence at state and military events.

The launch followed a dispute over an explosion last month inside the Demilitarized Zone that wounded three South Korean soldiers. Seoul and the US-led United Nations Command said the blast was caused by North Korean mines laid on the South Korean side of the border. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and rejected South Korea’s demand for an apology.