This week, South Korea will open its largest-ever defense expo to boost arms sales and highlight a rare appearance by an American nuclear-capable aircraft. The biennial Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) opened on Tuesday. According to organizers, 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.
According to Lee Jong-ho, head of the organizing office, this year’s exhibition aims to help South Korea achieve its objective of ranking as the fourth-largest exporter of armaments in the world. According to him, hundreds of thousands of other professionals, public members, and more than 450 top defense 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 stated.
After closing a record $17.3 billion in arms sales last year, including sizable deals with Poland for tanks, howitzers, airplanes, and rockets, the Korean government has set a target of exceeding $20 billion in defense exports this year.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has urged South Korea to increase its defense exports, which had recently placed it about tenth 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 airport south of Seoul while exhibitors finished their final preparations.
According to U.S. Force Colonel Charles Cameron, the spectacle would involve a larger-than-usual demonstration 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 UU.S., notably with nuclear-capable weaponry, to intimidate North Korea.
An 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 organization intended to demonstrate against the event, labeling the arms trade a “parasite” that profits from pain in situations like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Ukraine.
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