South deploys AI-powered systems to 'better monitor' North Korea

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - South Korea has deployed the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its military to enhance its vigil on North Korea, a report claimed on Thursday.

Seoul is testing AI-powered systems to “better monitor growing North Korean threats” from the frontlines along the border in the Yeoncheon county of the northern Gyeonggi province that divides the Korean Peninsula, Yonhap News reported.

The AI-powered systems are installed at a South Korean military outpost along the southern tip of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), dividing the two countries.

The South Korean military’s Hansan Battalion is using AI technology in the “established thermal observation devices to analyze video footage in real time and recognize humans and wildlife, such as deer and boar,” said the report.

It said fog makes it difficult for people to watch North Koreans across the borderline.

However, Seoul’s advanced surveillance monitors are making it easy for soldiers to monitor their North Korean counterparts.

“The system currently assists soldiers in analyzing North Korean border activity, and the Army expects the AI's recognition abilities to get even better with improvements to algorithms and as its training data set expands,” it added.

Besides, the South Korean military is operating a robot camera that “swiftly travels along a rail fence to monitor hilly areas that take time for troops to arrive on foot.”

North Korea and South Korea have been in a state of perpetual war since the 1950s after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty.

The two are divided by a 2.4-mile-wide DMZ.

Since the Korean War ended, the US has deployed around 28,500 of its soldiers in South Korea.