South Korea Aims Laser Arms At North Korea's Drones

Despite limitations in transmitting data back to the ground, Dempsey says that North Korea's use of these drones for imagery reconnaissance underscores its ambition to enhance its unmanned capabilities. This ambition is reflected in North Korea's January 2021 Workers Party Congress report, which outlined military development goals, including improved airborne and satellite surveillance, notes Dempsey.

He says commercial satellite imagery revealed two previously unseen drone designs at Panghyon aircraft factory, indicating ongoing efforts to advance North Korea's drone program.

Apart from small, hard-to-detect drones, North Korea has introduced more advanced drone models in line with its asymmetric military strategy against South Korea.

In a March 2024 article in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology, Kang-Il Seo and other writers mention that North Korea has introduced new strategic drones, the Satbyol-4 and Satbyol-9, significantly enhancing its surveillance and attack capabilities.

Seo and others say that these drones, which were unveiled at a military equipment exhibition in July 2023, resemble the US RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper, respectively, and are expected to perform multi-domain operations.

They note that the Satbyol-4, a high-altitude reconnaissance drone with a wingspan of approximately 35 meters, is believed to be capable of extensive surveillance despite North Korea's lack of communication satellites limiting its long-range operations. Further, they say that the Satbyol-9, an attack drone, mimics the Reaper's design, including its ability to carry multiple missiles, indicating North Korea's potential for precision strikes.

Seo and others note that the development of these drones marks a significant advancement in North Korea's military technology, reflecting its strategy to offset its inferior aerial surveillance capabilities compared to South Korea and the US. They say that the deployment of these drones poses increased peacetime and wartime threats, enhancing North Korea's surveillance, reconnaissance, and early warning capabilities and potentially escalating regional tensions.

While South Korea has one of East Asia's most vaunted militaries, North Korean drones present a significant challenge in air defense. South Korea's missile defense architecture is not designed to counter such targets, laser weapons are still in development, and rapidly improving drone designs pose challenges to defensive technologies.

In February 2024, Asia Times noted that South Korea's Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system is not well-equipped to effectively counter small drones due to its design for intercepting larger drones, aircraft, and ballistic missiles.

Laser weapons have not yet fulfilled their potential as low-cost, efficient anti-drone weapons due to development delays, technology issues, beam quality control problems, maintenance requirements, and a lack of industrial support.

Jamming might not work well on drones with inertial guidance because these systems can help them stay on course or return to a specific point even if they lose their command signals.

Further, in May 2023, The Washington Post noted that South Korea would struggle for three to five years to cover its air defense gaps against infiltrating North Korean drones. The Washington Post says that while South Korea has invested heavily in missile defense and air and naval forces, it has neglected to invest in counter-drone capabilities.

The source points out that North Korea's December 2022 incursion revealed an anemic South Korean air defense structure, showing slow communication between ground radars and interceptor aircraft and unclear rules of engagement for South Korean commanders.

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The Washington Post also says that North Korea may be probing South Korea's air defenses for unsecured gaps and mentioned concern about collateral damage from drone interceptions.

Given those capability gaps, South Korea has its work cut out for it in terms of improving its air defense against North Korea's asymmetric drone threat.

In a 2023 report for the Institute of National Security Strategy (INSS), Oh Il-Seok and Choi Yonghwan note that North Korea's December 2022 infiltration and advancements in drone technology require South Korea to improve its drone detection technology and accelerate drone development.

Oh and Choi mention that North Korea seems to be learning many lessons from the Ukraine War, ramping up its drone program after seeing the game-changing effects drones have had on the battlefield.

They also note increased cooperation between North Korea and Russia, with the former having delivered artillery shells and ballistic missiles to the latter for use in Ukraine in exchange for possibly energy supplies, food aid, financial assistance, and high-end military technologies such as missile propulsion and drone technology.

Oh and Choi say that North Korea's drone program could lead to a new slew of provocations against South Korea, using new drone designs to carry out new threats to the latter.

Lastly, they note that North Korea's flaunting new drone technology shows its determination to develop conventional weapons alongside advancing its nuclear program. Such, they say, places urgency on South Korea to develop more countermeasures addressing the dual conventional and nuclear threat that North Korea poses.

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