South Korea to hold largest-ever defence show amid tension with China, North Korea

This week, South Korea will open its largest-ever defence expo in an effort to boost arms sales and highlight a rare appearance by an American nuclear-capable bomber.

On Tuesday, the biennial Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX) opens its doors. According to organisers, there will be more firms than ever present, a U.S. B-52 bomber will fly past without precedent, and it will make a rare landing at an airbase somewhere else on the Korean peninsula.

The aim of this year’s show, according to Lee Jong-ho, head of the organising office, is to help South Korea achieve its objective of being the fourth-largest exporter of armaments in the world.

According to him, hundreds of thousands of other professionals and members of the public, as well as more than 450 senior defence officials from 54 nations, are anticipated to participate.

“This is an opportunity for Korea’s defence industry to draw international attention and take a giant leap forward,” Lee said.

After closing a record $17.3 billion in arms sales last year, including sizable deals with Poland for tanks, howitzers, aeroplanes, and rockets, the South Korean government has set a goal of achieving $20 billion in military exports this year.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has urged South Korea to increase its defence exports, which had recently placed it about eighth in the world.

On Monday, attendees of earlier events roamed among modern American F-22 and F-35 stealth aircraft on the tarmac at a South Korean military airbase south of Seoul while exhibitors finished up their final preparations.

According to U.S. Air Force Colonel Charles Cameron, the spectacle would involve a larger-than-usual display of American military might, including the B-52 fly, to mark the alliance between South Korea and the United States’ 70th anniversary.

Yoon has increased military showdowns between South Korea and the US, particularly with US nuclear-capable weaponry, in an effort to intimidate North Korea.

A unusual military parade was held in South Korea last month, with 300 of the 28,500 American soldiers stationed there joining thousands of other soldiers, local tanks, and self-propelled artillery.

A South Korean activist organisation announced its intention to demonstrate against the event, labelling the arms trade a “parasite” that profits from pain in situations like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Ukraine.

(With agency inputs)