The parade, held to mark the 75th Armed Forces Day commemorating the founding of the country\u2019s armed forces, comes against the backdrop of rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, as South Korea draws closer to the United States and Japan against the threat of North Korea\u2019s<\/a> accelerating weapons program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The event kicked off in the morning with ceremonies and performances at the Seoul Air Base, where President Yoon Suk Yeol delivered an address warning Pyongyang against ever using nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the (Seoul-Washington) alliance,\u201d Yoon said, speaking in the rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parade \u2013 a first for South Korea since 2013 \u2013 followed in the afternoon, with troops and military equipment rolling through the heart of Seoul, passing by the city hall and historic Gwanghwamun Square. The roads were lined with spectators, many wearing plastic ponchos and holding umbrellas in the rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several thousand South Korean soldiers and more than 300 US troops marched during the event, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Other performances included a military band, flag-bearers, and mascots from each military unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On display were a variety of homegrown equipment including drones, tanks and armored personnel carriers. Soldiers in vehicles waved to the crowd as they passed by; several carriers had the South Korean flag affixed to the exterior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, said while the parade served to send \u201ca message to an external audience,\u201d including partners like the United States and regional powers such as North Korea and China, the event \u201cis really about domestic factors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee salute the national flag during the military parade.Kim Hong-Ji\/Reuters<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parade and Yoon\u2019s presence \u201chelp portray (South) Korea to the Korean people that the country is now an important power on the world stage, a pivotal global power as the current president calls it,\u201d he said. It also boosts public perception of the Korean defense industry,<\/a> which is \u201cachieving remarkable export success\u201d while other economic sectors fall flat, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yoon has previously stated his goal to make South Korea one of the world\u2019s top four arms exporters, after the US, Russia and France. While it\u2019s still a few places away in the rankings, the industry has grown rapidly, with $7 billion of defense exports in 2021, according to the Export-Import Bank of Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"South](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/230926082544-01-south-korea-armed-forces-day-092623.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill\")
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