South Korean President Calls For Strong Defence

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday (October 1) the country's army needs to build a strong defence system to counter the North's nuclear programme.

After the North conducted a nuclear test in mid-February that drew swift U.N. Security Council sanctions, North Korea ramped up tensions in its neighbourhood with near-daily threats to attack South Korea, the United States and U.S. military bases in Japan.

On September 20, member states of the U.N. nuclear agency called on North Korea to halt any move to restart a reactor capable of producing plutonium for bombs, after reports the isolated north Asian state might have done so.

At the ceremony at the Seoul Airbase in Seongnam on Tuesday, South Korea showed off its military strength mobilizing about 11,000 soldiers, approximately 190 pieces of military equipment, and around 120 aircraft.

The latest cruise missile, Hyunmoo-3, which the defence ministry said can hit the office of North Korea's leaders, was shown to the public for the first time in a military parade.

Visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel accompanied by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the celebration and showed U.S. commitment to South Korea.

Presented by Adam Justice