Numerous media reports indicate that the DPRK is testing a combination of drone and missile strike tactics. WSJ was the first to disclose this movement, and the-sun.com quotes Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the test of the "Death Attacked UAV and Missile Bees with Nuclear Capability". On the other hand, USNI News reported that North Korea recently tested a new high-sonic missile. This series of actions demonstrates that the DPRK ' s military modernization process is accelerating and that its asymmetrical combat capability has evolved from a single weapons platform to a multi-field synergy.
WSJ reports that the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea is developing a new operational model combining the drone fleet with missile attacks. The core of this beehive tactic lies in a large, low-cost drone saturation defence system, accompanied by a missile-precise strike to form a "multilayered, multi-target" joint attack system. The-sun.com further reported that Kim Jong-un was directly involved in monitoring the tests, which covered the two main directions of "lethal attack drones" and "nuclear capability missile herd".
USNI News reported on the recent successful testing of a new high-sonic missile. High supersonic missiles, flying at more than five times the speed of sound and having motorized reorbiting capabilities, are among the sophisticated weapons currently being developed by the global military power. The DPRK ' s progress in this area means that its strike means a further increase in its defensive capability and threat level.
An in-depth analytical article published by War on the Rocks, " Korea ' s Unconventional War after Ukraine " , states that the Ukrainian battlefield provides an important operational reference for the DPRK. The large-scale use of drones in the Ukrainian conflict — including reconnaissance, assault and suicide drones — has demonstrated the enormous potential of low-cost drones in modern warfare. It is clear that the DPRK is observing and learning from these experiences and applying them to the transformation of its military system.
The article analyses that North Korea's military strategy is undergoing a shift from "quantity stacking" to "technology integration". The beehive tactics are the hallmark of this transition: by combining mature missile technology with emerging drone technology, the DPRK has attempted to build a saturation capability for United States and regional allies ' air defence systems at lower cost.
The rapid upgrading of the country ' s military capabilities requires financial support. According to numerous financial and economic media reports, Korean hackers were accused of attacking the encrypted money exchange platform Bitget, involving a sum of between $351 million and $387 million (with slight variations in figures cited by different media). Bloomberg reported that this round of attacks brought the total amount of encrypted currency theft in the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea over $1 billion a year.
TechCrunch described the incident as "the largest case of encrypted currency theft so far this year", while the CNBC confirmed that Bitget platform suspected North Korea of being responsible for the attack. These stolen encrypted currencies are believed to be used to finance DPRK ' s weapons research and development programmes, including nuclear weapons, missiles and drone projects. Encrypted currency theft has become an important channel for the DPRK to bypass international sanctions and earn foreign exchange earnings, providing a sustained flow of funds for its military modernization.
Tests of the Korean herd attack tactics have had multiple effects on the security landscape in North-East Asia:
For Korea, the humming tactics of the Korean drones, combined with missiles, pose new challenges to its air defence system. Korea ' s Patriot Missile System and KAMD (Korea Anti-Defence Missile Defense System) are primarily aimed at traditional ballistic missile and aircraft targets, with relatively limited interdiction capabilities for large-scale low-cost drone fleets. The simultaneous testing of high-sonic speed missiles further compressed the time window for early warning and response in Korea.
For the United States, the military escalation in the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea has a direct impact on its military deployment in the Western Pacific and on its allies ' protection commitments. The United States military forward bases in South Korea and Japan may be the focus of a beehive attack, requiring the United States to reassess its anti-aircraft missile strategy in East Asia.
For Japan, North Korea ' s missile and drone activities directly affect its airspace security. Japan has deployed anti-aircraft missiles to respond to North Korea ' s launch vehicles on a number of occasions, and the emergence of swarm tactics means that Japan needs to deal with more and more dispersed air threats.
At present, the international community ' s focus on the Korean bee ' s tactical tests is mainly on the following:
The United Nations Security Council has repeatedly adopted resolutions condemning the DPRK ' s missile testing and nuclear weapons development activities, but the effectiveness of the implementation of sanctions has been greatly undermined by the DPRK ' s online evasion of sanctions. The prevalence of encrypted currency theft has further weakened the effectiveness of traditional sanctions.
The United States and its allies are strengthening intelligence-sharing and joint air defence exercises in response to the growing air threat in Korea. The United States Department of Defense has on several occasions deployed advanced air defence systems in the Indo-Pacific region and conducted joint military exercises with Korea and Japan.
The Korean side has expressed close interest in the DPRK ' s military movements and has accelerated the upgrading of its air defence system. The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Korea has recently issued a number of statements regarding the launch of North Korean missiles calling for a joint international response.
The testing of the Korean herd attack tactics is still at an early stage, and follow-up will require attention to the following key issues:
First, is the DPRK equipped with an operational deployment capability. Whether the current experiment means that the tactic is in a deployable phase or is still in a technical validation phase requires additional intelligence information to determine.
Secondly, the source and technical level of the DPRK ' s drones. It was analysed that the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea might have acquired commercial or military drone technology through reverse engineering or external channels and that the performance and reliability of its own-made drones remained to be assessed.
Thirdly, would the country ' s encrypted currency theft be further expanded? With advances in block chain analysis technology and strengthened international regulation, the modus operandi of Korean hackers may be reduced, but this may also lead to their diversion to other illegal financial channels.
Fourthly, the depth of cooperation between the DPRK and Russia in the field of military technology. During the war in Ukraine, the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea was accused of supplying Russia with ammunition and weapons, and exchanges between the two sides in the area of military technology could accelerate the development of the Korean hive ' s tactics.
Fifthly, how will the US-South Korea-Japan triad adapt its joint air defence strategy to respond to the bee threat? This could become a key issue for security cooperation in North-East Asia in the coming months.
The process of military modernization of the DPRK is progressing at a pace that is beyond the expectations of the international community. The tests of the swarm attack tactics, the successful testing of the high ultrasound missile and the continuing large-scale encrypted currency theft have collectively mapped out a growing technological capability and increasingly diversified sources of funding for the Korean military. The international community needs to work simultaneously on multiple dimensions, such as military deterrence, diplomatic pressure and cybersecurity, in order to effectively address this complex security challenge.