North Korean state media said Kim Jong Un oversaw a Saturday missile launch near Wonsan that it described as using artificial intelligence to change course at low altitude. South Korea's military said the missile flew more than 700 kilometers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a missile launch early Saturday near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, state media reported Sunday, according to AFP. South Korea's military said the missile flew more than 700 kilometers, without giving further details in the AFP account.
The Korean Central News Agency said the drill was meant to train soldiers operating a hypersonic strategic weapon system. KCNA quoted Kim saying strategic missile soldiers had demonstrated their qualifications and counterattack posture, and that the country must keep showing the reliability of its strategic weapons.
Pyongyang's claim that the missile uses artificial intelligence to change its flight path at low altitude was attributed by AFP to earlier comments by Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, who said the capability left no way to avoid an attack. Independent technical confirmation of an AI guidance system was not included in the reports.
Yonhap published a KCNA photograph showing Kim beside the launch. The drill followed days after Seoul's military demanded an apology over a blast in the Demilitarized Zone that wounded three South Korean soldiers and that Seoul blamed on the North, AFP reported.
The AI description remains a North Korean claim. South Korea's published military detail in the AFP report was limited to launch area and distance.