A ruling camp lawmaker says North Korea mobilized targets resembling South Korean military equipment in its latest performance test of “suicide attack drones” so that the drones’ artificial intelligence(AI) could learn to identify South Korean military equipment. 

The office of ruling People Power Party Rep. Yu Yong-weon, who was previously a military journalist, said Friday that photos released by the North’s media on Thursday showed targets that had copied images of South Korean military equipment, including the long-range surface-to-air missile, which is one of the key elements of the South’s missile defense program.

Yu said he believes the North’s suicide attack drones are capable of launching autonomous attacks after identifying the shapes of South Korean and U.S. military equipment.

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) claimed on Thursday that the drones were equipped with AI technology. 

The KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised performance tests and stressed that unmanned equipment and AI technology must be top priorities in the modernization of weapons.