

By Kang Seung-woo

The U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday that North Korea has developed an indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ― commonly referred to as a drone ― capable of attacking ground targets.

The information from the Pentagon's annual report to Congress was made public Wednesday (local time) and said that the North publicized the UAV during a live-fire drill in March 2013.

"It appeared to be a North Korean copy of a Raytheon MQM-107 Streaker target drone," it said, hinting that Pyongyang used a stolen U.S. drone to create the aircraft.

"North Korean press coverage of the event described the UAV as being capable of a precision strike by crashing into the target."

The reported also said that the drone was shown on a cruise missile simulator that was shot down by a mobile surface-to-air missile.

It was the first official U.S. confirmation that North Korea has joined the ranks of nations to develop strike drones, according to the Washington Free Beacon, a U.S. website.

Additionally, the report said that the North Korean Air Force's most capable combat aircraft are its MiG-29s, procured from the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Its most recent aircraft acquisition was in 1999, when it surreptitiously purchased used MiG-21s from Kazakhstan.

As a result, its Air Force's aircraft continue to age, so it increasingly relies on its ground-based air defenses and on hiding or hardening assets to counter air attacks.