South Korea unveils most powerful missile, which can reach North Korea’s underground bunkers

South Korea displays weapons, warns North Korea against nuclear weapons, as tensions rise ahead of U.S. election.

South Korea unveiled its most powerful ballistic missile and other weapons targeting North Korea during a massive Armed Forces Day ceremony on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) as the South's President warned the North's regime would collapse if it attempts to use nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s weapons displays and warning against North Korea came after the latter recently rose regional animosities by disclosing its uranium-enrichment facility and tested missiles ahead of the U.S. Presidential election in November, 2024.

“If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the [South Korea]-U.S. alliance,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told thousands of troops gathered at a military airport near Seoul. “That day will be the end of the North Korean regime.”

“The North Korean regime must abandon the delusion that nuclear weapons will protect them,” Mr. Yoon said.

During the ceremony, the South Korean military displayed about 340 military equipment and weapons systems. Among them was its most powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile, which observers say is capable of carrying about 8 tons of a conventional warhead that can penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers in North Korea. It was the first time for South Korea to disclose that missile.

The U.S. flew a long-range B-1B bomber during the ceremony in an apparent demonstration of its security commitment to its Asian ally. South Korea also flew some of its most advanced fighter jets.

Since taking office in 2022, Mr. Yoon, a conservative, has put a stronger military alliance with the U.S. and an improved trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security cooperation at the center of his security polices to cope with North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. In recent years, North Korea has performed a provocative of missile tests and threatened to use nuclear weapons pre-emptively in potential conflicts with South Korea and the United States.