Seoul (AFP) – North Korea said Saturday it had tested an intermediate-range strategic missile incorporating the use of AI, hours after Seoul announced Pyongyang had launched a ballistic missile.

Published on: 03/10/2026 - 14:34

"Our armed forces detected a ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan area of ​​North Korea towards the East Sea," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, using the Korean name for the Sea of ​​Japan.

The projectile fell into the sea about 700 km from its launch point, he said.

This new shot comes amid renewed tension between North Korea and South Korea, which has accused its neighbor of having laid antipersonnel mines in its part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates them.

The explosion of two of these devices injured three South Korean soldiers on September 21. Seoul demanded an apology from Pyongyang for the incident, which it described as a violation of the 1953 armistice, which ended the Korean War.

“This is a clear violation of the armistice agreement, and since North Korea bears responsibility, we will take appropriate measures,” said South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul.

North Korea has denied responsibility for the incident and rejected Seoul's demand for an apology as "pathetic."

“Ready for anything”

“We are ready for anything, whatever option they choose,” Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un seen as an unofficial spokeswoman for Pyongyang, said in response to Mr. Kang's warnings.

She also claimed that the "intermediate-range strategic missile" was "capable of changing its flight path at low altitude and that AI was introduced into it", without giving further details on the use of artificial intelligence.

“There is no way to avoid” the attack of this type of missile,” continued Kim Yo Jong, supporting the words of his brother Kim Jong Un according to whom “no country in the world could have access to such technology for at least several years”.

The North Korean leader stressed in September the need to raise "the level of artificial intelligence" in the country's offensive and defensive weapons systems.

Analysts say North Korea could rapidly advance its missile technology with military support from Russia, in exchange for sending troops to support its war against Ukraine.

- Not "the slightest breach" -

“AI is increasingly integrated into military technologies across the world, and ballistic missiles are no exception,” Hong Sung-pyo, a senior researcher at the Seoul-based Korea Institute of Military Affairs, told AFP.

“AI can help provide information on targets and manage launch operations, while the wars in Ukraine and Iran have shown that the link between AI, drones and missiles can strengthen their operational effectiveness,” according to this specialist who believes that it is, however, too early to conclude that North Korea's claims regarding the missile's capabilities are accurate.

North Korea is under heavy United Nations sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, which it views as life insurance against any attempted invasion or overthrow of its regime by the United States.

Pyongyang, which concluded a mutual defense agreement with Moscow in 2024, has been accused by kyiv of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia to attack Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump, who met Kim Jong Un three times during his first term (2017-2021), is currently seeking to rekindle the bond he claims to have established with him during these exchanges, and has indicated that he intends to meet him again by the end of the year.

North Korea has so far not reacted. She also systematically rejected all attempts at rapprochement made in recent months by center-left South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, a supporter of dialogue with Pyongyang.

Pyongyang "will never tolerate the slightest breach or the slightest possible space of contact with the Republic of Korea, whatever the circumstances", declared Friday Kim Yo Jong, cited by the official North Korean agency KCNA. “Sitting at the same table with the Republic of Korea is in itself a nightmare,” she said, adding that “this is the conclusion we have reached from our past experience, which is more than sufficient.”

© 2026 AFP

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