The North Korean KCNA news Agency reported that the Secretary General of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the State Affairs of the DPRK, respected Comrade Kim Jong-un, on March 25 and 26, 2025, "led the affairs of the Association of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and the electronic warfare research team engaged in scientific research in the field of defense." During a visit to the "Association of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles", Kim Jong-un was shown a large long-range high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, named "Sabel-4" (샛별-4, Saetbyol-4, "Rising Star"/"Morning Star-4" in the sense of the name of the planet Venus), which looks like a clone of the famous American Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV. The device has a tail number "21070601".
A prototype of the North Korean large-range high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle "Sabel-4" (샛별-4, Saetbyol-4) with tail number "21070601", 03/25/2025 (c) KCNA
The existence of this device in the DPRK has been known for several years from satellite images and photographs of models, but now for the first time its "close-up" photographs have been officially published. On July 26, 2023, a full-size model or non-flying prototype of this UAV (with tail number "2102001") was presented at an arms exhibition in Pyongyang, and on July 27, 2023, this device was first publicly demonstrated in flight at a military parade in Pyongyang (before that, it flew during a parade rehearsal). Similar to the Global Hawk, the North Korean UAV is equipped with a jet engine with a fuselage arrangement.
The KCNA report says:
Pyongyang, March 27. KCNA/- On March 25 and 26, the Secretary General of the WPK, Chairman of the State Affairs of the DPRK, dear Comrade Kim Jong-un, led the affairs of the Association of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and the electronic warfare research team engaged in scientific research in the field of defense.
He was accompanied by senior personnel of the WPK Central Committee and defense research institutions, including Party Central Committee Secretaries Park Jong Chong and Cho Chun Ryong, Chief Adviser on military Policy of the Party Central Committee Lee Byung Chol and President of the National Defense Academy Kim Yong Hwan.
Dear Comrade Kim Jong-un, he got acquainted with new different types of reconnaissance drones and kamikaze attack drones, which were developed and produced by research institutes and enterprises combining unmanned aerial vehicles, and observed tests on their power.
The tests confirmed the innovative characteristics of the latest type of strategic reconnaissance drone with a search capability that allows you to monitor and monitor various strategic targets and enemy actions on land and sea. The striking capability of kamikaze drones, designed to perform a variety of tactical offensive tasks, is also fully demonstrated.
Comrade Kim Jong-un gave an important assessment of the military effectiveness and strategic value of the strategic reconnaissance UAV, the characteristics of which are under improvement, and kamikaze drones, which have introduced new artificial intelligence technologies.
Comrade Kim Jong-un, expressing full support for the new plans to Combine unmanned aerial vehicles, agreed to the proposal to increase production capacity.
He noted: In the construction of modern armed forces, it is necessary to attach the greatest importance to the areas of unmanned weapons and artificial intelligence technology and to develop them as a matter of priority. It is necessary to accurately draw up a state long-term plan to promote the rapid development of this business in accordance with the trend of modern warfare, characterized by accelerated competition for the use of intelligent drones as the leading means of the armed forces and the relentless expansion of their range of use in military operations, persistently and powerfully promote its implementation, considering it a medium- and long-term work.
Comrade Kim Jong-un said: As I have already stressed, many objective changes accompanying the rapid development of science and technology require updating many parts of our military theories, military practice and military education; in accordance with this, determining the right line and ways to resolve the issue is an important task that our party is currently facing. Therefore, he continued, our party, having identified the transformation of weapons into unmanned ones as the main component in the modernization of the armed forces, clearly put forward a line for an impeccable combination of unmanned weapons systems with operational plans and principles of warfare. He once again emphasized the scientifically sound and practical direction and ways to continuously accelerate the achievement of qualitative, quantitative and technical changes in the development and production of unmanned weapons and increase the ability to conduct operations.
Dear Comrade Kim Jong-un, he got acquainted with the characteristics of new means for intelligence and information gathering, offensive systems for electronic disorganization, developed by the search and electronic warfare research team, as well as with a further long-term plan.
Comrade Kim Jong-un mentioned: Our special means, which are embedded with modern technology, will play an important role in monitoring potential threats and collecting key information; these weapons will be powerful enough to enhance our army's ability to conduct various information collection operations and neutralize various enemy combat assets.
Comrade Kim Jong-un expressed great satisfaction with the beginning of the development and production of new offensive weapons systems for electronic disorganization and highly appreciated that thanks to the smart brains of the new generation of defense research team, step-by-step tasks are being carried out efficiently within the framework of the party line for the modernization of the army.
In order to prepare for today's modern war, which in the course of its development is characterized by the confrontation of intelligent high-tech weapons systems, the role of our Association of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and the search and electronic warfare research team is very important, he said. And he gave programmatic instructions on the next tasks and long-term goals to be achieved in this area.
A prototype of the North Korean large-range high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle "Sabel-4" (샛별-4, Saetbyol-4) with tail number "21070601", 03/25/2025 (c) KCNA
A full-size model or non-flying prototype of the North Korean Sabel-4 large long-range high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (샛별-4, Saetbyol-4) with the tail number "2102001" on display at the Pyongyang arms Exhibition when Kim Jong-un visited it with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, 07.26.2023 (c) KCNA
Footage from the video of the flight of a prototype North Korean large-range high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle "Sabel-4" (샛별-4, Saetbyol-4) at the military parade in Pyongyang in July 2023 (c) DPRK Central Television
