76th Army Foundation Anniversary Armed Forces Day Ceremony... Afternoon City Parade
North Korea condemned the deployment of the U.S. strategic bomber B-1B at the South Korean Armed Forces Day event on the 1st. This year marks the first time the U.S. Air Force supersonic strategic bomber B-1B Lancer has appeared at the Armed Forces Day celebration.
Kim Kang-il, Vice Minister of the North Korean Ministry of Defense, said in a statement distributed through the Korean Central News Agency on the same day that the deployment of the U.S. strategic bomber B-1B to South Korea "is nothing more than a hallucinogen to soothe the frustration of the lackeys who are suffering from chronic nuclear phobia and sleepless nights, trying to maintain their military face amid strategic inferiority in the Korean Peninsula region."
North Korea reacts sensitively whenever U.S. strategic assets are deployed on the Korean Peninsula. The statement claimed, "Our military's unchanging position is that the United States, intoxicated with blind faith in violence and coercion, must be thoroughly controlled from a position of strength." It added, "New methods that add serious concerns to the safety of the U.S. mainland should rightfully emerge," and stated, "We will continuously enhance strong war deterrence capabilities that can proactively respond to arbitrary security instability caused by the irresponsible actions of the United States."
To mark the 76th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces, South Korea will hold a commemorative ceremony and a parade on the 1st. This event is expected to showcase the overwhelming power of the ROK-U.S. alliance with the appearance of the ground-to-ground missile ‘Hyunmoo-5,’ regarded as the world’s strongest bunker buster, and the U.S. Air Force strategic bomber B-1B Lancer. The B-1B, one of the three major strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force, can fly at Mach 1.25 (1,530 km/h). It is said that it can reach the skies over Pyongyang in just over two hours after taking off from the U.S. base in Guam, Pacific. Although the nuclear bomb carrying capability has been removed from the currently operated B-1B, it can carry about 60 tons of bombs, twice the payload of the B-52 bomber.
The Armed Forces Day event will be held at 10 a.m. at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, under the theme "Strong Armed Forces, Together with the People." The ceremony will consist of preliminary events and formations, focusing on demonstrating a "prompt, strong, and relentless (Jik-Gang-Kkeut)" retaliation posture in case of enemy provocations. Following the ceremony, a parade with the public will take place from 4 p.m. around Sungnyemun to Gwanghwamun in Seoul. The military will showcase major weapon systems during the parade, and for the first time, a car parade featuring veterans of the Korean War and other national heroes will be held.
The Armed Forces Day parade is usually held only in the first year of a president’s term, but this year it will be held for the second consecutive year, an unusual occurrence following last year. Earlier, in February, the Ministry of National Defense revised the "Unit Management Regulations" to allow large-scale Armed Forces Day events to be held multiple times during a presidential term under the judgment of the Minister of National Defense.
A military official said, "It is a misunderstanding that only authoritarian countries hold parades; 13 OECD countries also hold them," adding, "Now, it would be good to view the parade as a cultural festival together with the people."
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