Kim oversees North Korean missile test as Seoul disputes AI claims

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a missile launch that state media said used artificial intelligence to adjust its flight path, according to a report carried by Channels Television. The missile was launched early on Saturday from an area near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan. South Korea’s military said it travelled more than 700 kilometres.

North Korean state media reported that the technology allowed the missile to change its flight orbit at low altitude. Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, had said the capability meant there was no way to avoid an attack. South Korea disputed that assessment.

Its Defence Ministry said the missile was within the detection and interception capabilities of defensive systems operated by South Korea and the United States. The ministry urged North Korea to stop actions that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and said the launch violated United Nations Security Council resolutions. Kim said the exercise demonstrated the qualifications and counterattack readiness of North Korea’s strategic missile forces.

The official Korean Central News Agency said the launch was intended to train personnel operating a hypersonic strategic weapon system. KCNA also published the coordinates of the missile’s impact point. Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP that the precision of the published coordinates suggested confidence by Pyongyang.

Photographs released by KCNA showed Kim at the launch and with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter, Ju Ae. South Korea’s spy agency has identified Ju Ae as the most likely successor to her father, citing her increasingly prominent role at major state and military events. The source material did not independently verify North Korea’s claims about the missile’s artificial-intelligence functions.