North Korea’s New AI-Powered Missile Can Strike Seoul Directly

Translation result.Test-launch report: Kim Jong Un observed; suggests capability to strike South Korea’s capital area — Kim: “An important link in deterring war”North Korea said it plans to deploy the new weapon it test-fired on the 26th along the border to target the South’s capital area. On the 27th, the Korean Central News Agency reported that, with State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un observing, a defense science research agency test-fired a lightweight multipurpose missile-launch system and a multiple-launch tactical cruise missile weapons system.According to the report, the tactical cruise missile, with a range of 100 km, will be deployed to a long-range artillery brigade in the southern border region. If the cruise missile system is positioned near the Military Demarcation Line along North Korea’s southern border, it could strike much of the Seoul metropolitan area, including the city itself.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a short-range ballistic missile launched that day from the Jeongju area in North Pyongan Province toward the Yellow Sea flew roughly 80 km. KCNA described the tactical cruise missile as combining an ultra-precise autonomous navigation system and terrain-matching navigation, and said it incorporates AI-enabled terminal guidance that allows “extremely precise” strikes at 100 km. Im Eum-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Gyeongsang National University, said, “They have introduced new technologies like AI and complex-flight modes, maximizing guidance performance and evasive-maneuver capability.” Chairman Kim, who observed the test launches, said, “The current situation urges continuous military modernization,” and added, “Building the most modern and most powerful artillery force—one unmatched by anyone—is our top policy priority in strengthening our armed forces.” He warned, “Equipping ourselves with destructive power so overwhelming that an opposing force’s survival would be theoretically impossible—even by chance—is an essential condition for our military’s operations. Such capability inflicts extreme anxiety and fear on the enemy and itself serves as an important link in deterring war; it is a responsible exercise.”