President Lee stresses self-reliant defense

A ceremony for the 77th Armed Forces Day was held under the theme of ‘advanced and strong military that goes together with the people’. With no military parade, the celebration was scaled down from last year’s. Instead, new weapons systems equipped with AI and stealth technology drew attention. Strike assets including the Hyunmoo-5 missile were also displayed in a show of force.

President Lee Jae Myung said that Korea’s defense capability is the strongest it’s ever been in history, stressing the need to move toward achieving self-reliant defense. Lee unveiled a military blueprint for making the military smarter and stronger by increasing the defense budget for next year by over eight percent and making intensive investment in cutting-edge defense technologies.