North Korea develops agricultural drones
North Korea’s English quarterly Foreign Trade featured pesticide-spraying drone Jongdari-101 on April 1. Image | Foreign Trade of the DPRK
North Korea has introduced a pesticide-spraying drone that it claims can do the work of 35 farm laborers.
The drone, called the Jongdari-101, can carry 15 kilograms of pesticides and fly for up to 12 minutes, according to the English quarterly Foreign Trade and the latest issue of Hwabo Chosun, a North Korea publication.
The use of drones in agriculture fits the emphasis on the improvement in the quality of life through science and technology, a feature of Kim Jong-un’s “people first” philosophy.
Analysts speculate that coverage of the Jongdari-101 in publications targeted at foreigners indicate that the regime is looking to export the product.
The drone is a six-axis unmanned aerial vehicle which can be remotely controlled from a distance of up to one kilometer, and is able to spray an area of one hectare in a 12-minute session
It weighs 40 kilograms and operates at between seven and 21 kilometers per hour.
There is speculation as to whether North Korea’s drones are locally made or not. Given that drone technology has been developed for military purposes for some time, the adaptation for agricultural use would pose no difficulty.
“They have been operating drones since the late 1990s and developing self-destructing and long-range drones since 2010,” said Lee Ki-jin, an expert with the South Korean army.
At the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party in January 2021, Kim Jong-un ordered researchers to carry out key projects for the development of reconnaissance equipment including unmanned aerial vehicles, Lee said.
“This is likely to not only diversify the threat to us of small-sized drones but also accelerate their development,” he said.
“It is highly likely that the agricultural drone unveiled this time was made with homegrown technology,” said Cho, a defector who was an agricultural and livestock expert in North Korea. He noted that the drone project was first reported a year ago in Minju Joson, which targets domestic readers, and speculated that the appearance now in reports aimed at overseas suggests the drone has been developed for export.
“There is a question as to how much agricultural drones will be used in actual farming in the country itself because fertilizer itself is scarce,” he said.
Jia defected from North Korea in search of basic freedoms, including the right to travel and freely express herself. Her identity as a North Korean has given her a sense of responsibility to represent the voices of her family and hometown friends and is also the reason she has chosen to work as a journalist.
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