On the 26th, when the Armed Forces Day street parade was held, President Yoon Seok-yeol is watching the parade from the viewing stage at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. Presidential Office Photojournalist Corps
On the 26th, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Armed Forces Day, military personnel and equipment paraded through the city center in Gangbuk, Seoul for the first time in 10 years. It was a ‘military demonstration against North Korea’. President Yoon Seok-yeol said on this day, “If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, we will put an end to the North Korean regime through an overwhelming response from the ROK-US alliance.” It is ‘punitive deterrence’ that focuses on preventing nuclear war itself by demonstrating the will to inflict massive punishment and retaliation if the other party uses nuclear weapons. If the focus is on punitive deterrence, the effect of preventing North Korea’s provocations will be strong, but if a provocation goes beyond this, it is highly likely that it will lead to a full-scale escalation of war in the early stages. In North Korea’s situation, there is no reason to refrain from escalating the war since it is certain that once an armed conflict breaks out, it will suffer massive retaliation. Rather, it is highly likely that it will be judged advantageous to launch a full-scale nuclear attack from the beginning. Reuters introduced the march on this day, saying, “South Korea held a rare military march and warned North Korea of its nuclear threat.” After World War II, as socialist countries such as the Soviet Union, China, Eastern Europe, and North Korea, developing countries, and totalitarian countries frequently held large-scale military parades, the impression of military parades as ‘backward’, ‘warlike’, and ‘totalitarian’ became stronger. In democratic countries, France holds a large-scale military march through the streets on Bastille Day, but in most countries, it is held as a commemorative event for the war dead.
On February 8th, the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s Armed Forces Day (the founding day of the People’s Army), parade participants march at goosesteps with their military flags raised high at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. Korean Central News Agency Yonhap News
The origins of large-scale military parades were in the former Soviet Union. On November 7, 1941, during World War II, the Nazi German army advanced 30km below Moscow. It is said that the sound of German cannons could be heard even in downtown Moscow. On this day, when the fate of the Soviet Union seemed like a light in the wind, a splendid large-scale military parade was held in Moscow’s Red Square to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Stalin, the Supreme Leader of the Soviet Union at the time, announced his intention to remain in Moscow and defend the capital in a speech broadcast live nationwide on radio. At that time, the military parade in Red Square demonstrated the Soviet Union’s will to fight to the death, both at home and abroad. After a splendid military parade, the Soviet army rushed to the front lines on the outskirts of Moscow. Citizens gained great courage. Afterwards, the Soviet Union succeeded in defending Moscow and launched a massive counterattack. This military parade served as an opportunity for the Soviet Union to win the German-Soviet War. In February 2018, when then-US President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to hold a large-scale military parade in Washington, D.C., there was strong opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. Republican Senator John Kennedy said, “Confidence is expressed through silence. “The United States is the most powerful country in human history, and there is no need to intentionally show it off,” he criticized. Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse mocked Trump, saying, “I think Trump watches too much North Korean television.” At the time, the Washington Post pointed out, “The reason that past U.S. presidents have not held a military parade is because it reminds us of North Korea boasting about its missiles or the large-scale military events held by the former Soviet Union in Red Square.” The United States has not held a military parade since commemorating its victory in the Gulf War in 1991. Despite this opposition, President Trump held a ‘Salute to America Military Parade’ in Washington on July 4, 2019, as part of his Independence Day celebration. The American media criticized this event for undermining the military’s spirit of civilian control and using the military for politics. It is said that President Trump used the military as a political support to rally his supporters, and this undermined the spirit of America’s traditional military and civilian control. Until the 1970s, during the military dictatorship, every October on Armed Forces Day, Korea held a large-scale military parade in Yeouido, Seoul and held a parade all the way to downtown Gangbuk. The parades in downtown Seoul were reduced to once every three years during the Chun Doo-hwan administration in the 1980s due to the inconvenience to citizens, and further reduced to once every five years under the Kim Young-sam administration in the 1990s.
More than 10 Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles appeared at the North Korean military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean military held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on the night of February 8. Korean Central News Agency/Yonhap News
Unlike South Korea, which has reduced street parades over time, North Korea is holding military parades more frequently over time. The more difficult North Korea’s economic situation is, the more it tries to boast of its strong military power outside the country and tie the people down internally so that the system will not be shaken. North Korea’s late-night military parade with flashy lighting is very provocative. The scene of tens of thousands of troops filling Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Square marching (goose walking) with their military flags raised high gives the viewer a feeling of intimidation. Such large-scale street marches remind us of ‘communist totalitarianism.’ North Korea held military parades 13 times during the 46 years of President Kim Il-sung’s rule from 1948 to 1994. After the 1960s, when restoration from the Korean War was completed and the political and economic sectors entered a period of stability, military parades were reduced in the 1960s and 1970s. However, as North Korea’s situation became more difficult in the 1990s, large-scale military parades reappeared. During the 17 years that National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il was in power from 1994 to 2011, military parades were held 13 times. A total of 15 military parades have been held so far during the 12 years that North Korean Workers’ Party General Secretary and State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un has been in power. Reporter Kwon Hyuk-cheol nura@hani.co.kr
2023-09-27 06:03:51
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