Seoul: The South Korean military said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal to purchase small Polish-made self-destruct "suicide drones" from Poland and will deploy them to front-line units within this year, local media reported.
As per Yonhap news agency, the move is aimed at better equipping the country's military with the low-cost but effective weapons that North Korea is seeking to rapidly develop.
The deal was signed with Polish defence firm WB Electronics SA on the sidelines of the five-day Korea Army International Defence Exhibition held at the military headquarters in Gyeryong.
South Korea plans to begin shipments of the Warmate drones in November and deploy them by the end of this year, Yonhap reported.
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"We conducted an extensive search on which drones could be shipped quickly, and the Polish drones were the sole answer," a South Korean ministry official said, noting that Poland has continuously supplied such drones to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Suicide drones, said the South Korean news agency, also known as loitering munitions, have emerged as important weapons in modern warfare as they can attack tanks and other targets at relatively low cost.
In August, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw tests of various drones and called for the development and production of more suicide drones to better prepare for war.
North Korea's state media released photos of two white suicide attack drones hitting and destroying a mock target that looked like a South Korean K-2 tank. It marked the first time the North unveiled photos of such drones.
Poland had in 2022 signed deals with South Korean defence companies to buy various weapons systems, including K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.
—ANI