South Korea is holding its first military parade in a decade in Seoul that features thousands of troops and its latest military hardware to celebrate Armed Forces Day, just as it bolsters security ties with the US and Japan.
Some 6,700 soldiers and weapons including domestically made KF-21 fighter jets, next-generation light-armed helicopters and long-range surface-to-air missiles will be featured at a celebration at an airbase in the south of the city. The parade begins in the afternoon in the streets of a central Seoul area that has been home to massive protests and gatherings of hundreds of thousands to watch events such as World Cup soccer on big screen video monitors.
The event includes displays of drones from a newly established unmanned aerial vehicle command and is to mark the 75 anniversary of the founding of South Korea’s armed forces. It also highlights the country’s 70-year military alliance with the US and the American Air Force is dispatching aircraft including F-35 and F-16 fighters for the celebrations.
Festivities will be attended by more than 10,000 people, including veterans and their families of the 1950-1953 Korean War from 19 different countries. Crowds are expected to line the streets to watch the parade in Seoul.
South Korea has held a parade every five years to mark its Armed Forces Day but it was not conducted under then President Moon Jae-in in 2018 as he sought rapprochement with North Korea. Pyongyang, for its part, has held several parades under Kim Jong Un, showing off its latest nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike South Korea and deliver warheads to the US mainland.
US President Joe Biden was dealt a stronger hand in Asia when Yoon Suk Yeol became South Korea’s president more than a year ago, backing hawkish security policies that brought Seoul closer to Tokyo while looking to diminish bickering between the neighbors.
--With assistance from Shinhye Kang.
