Seoul speeds up deployment of anti-drone measures against N. Korea's evolving threats

This photo, released by Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency, shows an unmanned surveillance drone during a military exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, which is celebrated as Victory Day in the North. Yonhap

Experts doubt capability of North Korea's newly developed drones

By Lee Hyo-jin

South Korea is seeking to speed up the deployment of anti-drone killers after North Korea unveiled new surveillance and attack drones that appeared to be almost identical to the U.S. Global Hawk and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Defense analysts agreed on the need for the South Korean military to improve its counter-drone system against North Korea's evolving military threats, but viewed that the capabilities of Pyongyang's drones showcased during its latest military parade are exaggerated and do not pose immediate threats to the South.

South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is expected to hold a briefing session with local defense companies about its portable drone jammer project at the Government Complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday.

The state arms procurement agency is expected to share details of its project, which is aimed at equipping helicopters with anti-drone guns that are capable of neutralizing enemy drones.

There are two approaches in neutralizing enemy drones ― the so-called soft kill system and the hard kill system. The soft kill system refers to jamming by releasing specific signals to interfere with an enemy drone's ability to receive and transmit signals. The hard kill system entails the physical incapacitation of a drone by shooting it down.

DAPA said its current project would involve the soft kill system.

North Korea's drone incursions in December last year raised the need for the South Korean military to improve its anti-drone system. The drone incursions revealed the limitations of Seoul's aerial defenses and systems to detection small UAVs.

In this photo released by Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency, weapons suspected to be Haeil underwater attack drones are displayed during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, Thursday. Yonhap

During Thursday's military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the signing of the 1950-53 Korean War armistice, celebrated as "Victory Day" in the North, the reclusive regime carried out demonstration flights of new military drones, according to its state media, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The two surveillance and attack drone models, dubbed Saetbyul-4 and Saetbyul-9, resembled U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper drones in their visual appearance, according to observers.

Yang Uk, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that the newly developed North Korean drones are merely look-alikes to the U.S. ones, and their capabilities would not match the advanced features of their U.S. counterparts.

"The precise capabilities of North Korean drones remain unclear, but I'm pretty sure they do not have the same capabilities of U.S. ones. As we've seen through the North's failed satellite launch, the regime does not have the technology to develop cameras that are capable of conducting military reconnaissance works," Yang told The Korea Times.

Earlier this month, the South Korean government retrieved from the West Sea the wreckage of the North's spy satellite launched in late May. South Korean and U.S. experts who jointly examined them concluded that the satellite was not capable of conducting military reconnaissance works.

But Yang commented that the North may use the replicated drones to confuse the South Korean military, which requires Seoul to be better prepared against such tactics.

Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank, also viewed that Pyongyang could not have copied the technologies of American aircraft.

"The North claims that Saetbyul-4 are strategic reconnaissance aircraft, but if you look at the photos, the drones are not equipped with ultra-high frequency (UHF) antennae, which means that they cannot conduct long-range operations," he said.

In this photo released by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, Thursday. Yonhap

Other than the drones, the massive military parade featured long-range missiles, including Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), but it did not introduce new types of ICBMs.

Yang said that the North did not introduce any new meaningful hardware during the parade, which seemed to be focused more on showcasing nuclear weapons than conventional ones.

"But other than the weapons display, the parade was aimed at showing off the North's solidarity with Russia and China," he said, noting that Kim Jong-un shared center stage with Russian and Chinese delegates and not his daughter Ju-ae or his wife Ri Sol-ju.