North Korea is preparing to export drones alongside its recent full-scale drone production efforts, Daily NK has learned.
“The party’s Munitions Industry Department began inspections for overseas drone exports on March 7,” a senior Daily NK source in North Korea said recently. “The inspections assess the capabilities and quality of drones produced since January, with approved drones scheduled for immediate export.”
Production facilities in North Korea – defense industry enterprises affiliated with the Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex in North Pyongan province – have been mass-producing reconnaissance, attack, and suicide drones.
As drones are relatively inexpensive to develop compared to other weapon systems yet highly effective for reconnaissance and strike missions, North Korea believes they will be competitive in the international weapons market.
“North Korea is looking to export drones as a way to address foreign currency shortages,” the source said. “It’s focusing on leveraging existing personal networks and developing new clients to open markets in the Middle East and Africa.” This indicates North Korea has already begun establishing various drone export channels.
According to the source, North Korea is eyeing Syria, Iran, and other long-time military cooperation partners as major drone export markets, along with Yemen’s Houthi rebels and armed groups in Africa. The regime has also approached Russia, suggesting significant demand for North Korean drones.
North Korea is developing various strategies to conceal its role as the manufacturer when exporting these weapons, aiming to avoid detection by the international community.
“There was an order early this year not to include manufacturing numbers or markings on the drones,” the source said. “This was to avoid leaving evidence that they were made in North Korea.”
Additionally, the North Korean authorities have planned to disguise weapon shipments by exporting drone components through multiple channels for assembly at their final destinations, rather than shipping fully-assembled drones. According to the source, North Korea has frequently used this method for past arms exports.
Payment methods are also becoming more covert. North Korea particularly favors cryptocurrency payments, attempting to sell arms using Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero to avoid transaction tracking.
North Korea further evades international surveillance by using overseas front companies to complicate transaction trails.
“Munitions Industry Department officials quietly boast that selling drones while circumventing sanctions is their specialty,” the source said. “They’re constantly developing new methods to avoid international detection.”
While the international community monitors and sanctions North Korea to block its illegal and threatening weapons exports, critics argue stronger measures are needed to counter North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated evasion tactics.
March 24, 2025 at 11:13AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)