BEIJING (Kyodo) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw tests of newly developed reconnaissance and suicide attack drones earlier this week and called for expanding their production capacity, state-run media said Thursday.

During his two-day inspection through Wednesday, the tests demonstrated the performance of a reconnaissance drone "capable of tracking and monitoring different strategic targets and enemy troops' activities" on the ground and at sea as well as the strike capability of a suicide attack drone powered by artificial intelligence.

Kim said the field of unmanned equipment and AI should be "top-prioritized and developed in modernizing the armed forces" to keep up with "the trend of modern warfare in which the competition for using intelligent drones as a major means of military power is being accelerated," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

He called for promoting the rapid development of intelligent drones and "perseveringly and dynamically" propelling it forward as a medium and long-term project, KCNA added.

Diplomatic sources have pointed to the possibility that Russia provided technical support for North Korea in the development of military-use drones in exchange for Pyongyang sending its troops to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine, but, according to the report, Kim did not mention Russia during his inspection.

The leader also learned about the performance of newly developed electronic jamming and attack systems that would help neutralize "the enemy's combat means of various missions," KCNA said. Photos it released showed Kim overseeing a test of an aircraft with airborne early warning and control systems.