Pyongyang this month conducted its first exercise combining attack drones, nuclear-capable missiles, rockets and long-range artillery against a single target, according to the report.

North Korea followed that exercise on Sept. 20 by firing two missiles it described as hypersonic. State media on Thursday also reported tests of shells for an upgraded 240mm multiple-rocket-launcher system featuring unmanned precision guidance.

Such multidimensional attacks seek to overwhelm sophisticated air-defense systems by sending large numbers of weapons travelling at different speeds toward their targets.

Similar tactics have become increasingly prominent in Ukraine, where large numbers of relatively inexpensive drones and missiles can force defenders to expend costly and limited interceptor stocks.

Coordinating such attacks presents technical and logistical challenges for North Korea, whose conventional military still relies heavily on Soviet-era equipment. Pyongyang has made modernizing those forces a greater priority alongside its nuclear weapons program.

Closer military cooperation with Russia could support those efforts. North Korea has supplied missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine and sent laborers and engineers to Russian drone facilities, according to the report.

At a February congress setting out the military's next five-year objectives, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to develop new AI-enabled unmanned attack systems.

The implications could be significant for South Korea's air defenses in any conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Combining large numbers of drones with existing missile capabilities could consume interceptor stocks and create openings for subsequent attacks using more powerful weapons.

Military analysts cited by the Journal said future conflicts could increasingly hinge on whether attackers can manufacture missiles and drones faster than defenders can replenish interceptors.

Lami Kim, Korea chair at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said North Korea's expanding drone capabilities, combined with its nuclear and missile arsenal, could alter the military balance on the Korean Peninsula.