Seoul, South Korea CNN –
South Korea showcased an arsenal of advanced weaponry at a military parade on Tuesday, rolling tanks and missiles through the streets of its rain-soaked capital. This was the first event of its kind in a decade.
The parade, held to mark the 75th Armed Forces Day to commemorate the founding of the country’s armed forces, comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula as South Korea draws closer to the United States and Japan amid North Korea’s threat of tightening weapons programs .
The event began in the morning with ceremonies and performances at Seoul Air Base, where President Yoon Suk Yeol gave a speech warning Pyongyang against ever using nuclear weapons.
“If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the (Seoul-Washington) alliance,” Yoon said in the rain.
Chung Sung Jun/Getty Images
South Korea will hold a military parade in Seoul on September 26, 2023.
Later on Tuesday, North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song claimed that Pyongyang had been “urged to further accelerate the buildup of its self-defense capabilities” and said the Korean peninsula was moving “closer to the brink of nuclear war.” .”
In his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, Kim accused the US of expanding its influence throughout the world, particularly on the Korean peninsula.
The military parade followed in the afternoon – a first for South Korea since 2013 – with troops and military equipment rolling through the heart of Seoul, past City Hall and historic Gwanghwamun Square. The streets were lined with spectators, many wearing plastic ponchos and holding umbrellas against the rain.
Kim Hong-Ji/Portal
South Korean troops marched during the military parade in Seoul, South Korea, September 26, 2023.
According to the Defense Department, several thousand South Korean soldiers and more than 300 US soldiers marched during the event. Other appearances included a military band, flag bearers and mascots from each military unit.
A variety of homemade equipment was on display, including drones, tanks and armored personnel carriers. Soldiers in vehicles waved to the passing crowd; Several airlines had the South Korean flag displayed on the outside.
Peter Layton, a visiting scholar at Griffith University’s Griffith Asia Institute, said that while the parade served to “send a message to external audiences” including partners such as the United States and regional powers such as North Korea and China, the event was “It is really about domestic factors.”
Kim Hong-Ji/Portal
South Korean soldiers perform a taekwondo demonstration during the event.
The parade and Yoon’s presence “help introduce (South) Korea to the Korean people that the country is now a major power on the world stage, a key global power, as the current president calls it,” he said. It also boosts public perception of Korea’s defense industry, which is “achieving remarkable export successes” while other economic sectors are stagnating, he added.
Yoon had previously stated his goal of making South Korea one of the world’s four largest arms exporters, after the United States, Russia and France. While still a few spots away in the rankings, the industry recorded $7 billion worth of defense exports in 2021, according to the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
Layton added that the parade also underscored South Korea’s enduring alliance with the United States – with the two countries moving closer, as well as with Japan, as North Korea ramps up its weapons testing.
Chung Sung Jun/Getty Images
South Korean weapons and vehicles were displayed during a parade in Seoul on September 26, 2023.
International intelligence agencies have also suggested since last year that Pyongyang may be preparing to resume nuclear testing, with satellite images showing activity at its underground nuclear test site.
In April this year, Yoon and US President Joe Biden announced a major new agreement designed to deter North Korean aggression, including a new US commitment to station a nuclear submarine in South Korea for the first time since the early 1980s .
Yoon, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also held a historic summit in August and announced new military exercises and a crisis communications hotline. It was the first time Biden hosted foreign leaders at the Camp David Retreat in Maryland, a site of historic diplomatic negotiations by previous presidents.
This story has been updated to more accurately describe the weapons on display during the parade.