North Korea's Kim Yo Jong Mocks Seoul Military Parade, Downplays Capabilities

The Hyunmoo, surface-to-surface missile, march during a celebration to mark 76th anniversary of Korea Armed Forces Day, in Seongnam, South Korea, October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo
The Hyunmoo, surface-to-surface missile, march during a celebration to mark 76th anniversary of Korea Armed Forces Day, in Seongnam, South Korea, October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo
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North Korea's Kim Yo Jong Mocks Seoul Military Parade, Downplays Capabilities

The Hyunmoo, surface-to-surface missile, march during a celebration to mark 76th anniversary of Korea Armed Forces Day, in Seongnam, South Korea, October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo
The Hyunmoo, surface-to-surface missile, march during a celebration to mark 76th anniversary of Korea Armed Forces Day, in Seongnam, South Korea, October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, criticized a military parade held in Seoul for its Armed Forces Day this week and called it a "clown show", in a statement carried by state media KCNA on Thursday.

She also downplayed South Korea's military capabilities put on display, as well as slamming the flypast of a US B-1B bomber during Tuesday's parade.

"Who could talk about 'end of regime' by showing off what is such a uselessly bulky weapon," Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA, referring to South Korea's display of its powerful new Hyunmoo-5 missile capable of carrying an eight-ton warhead, Reuters reported.

Military officials have said Tuesday's parade was partly intended to showcase South Korea's military might as a deterrence to North Korea, which frequently stages parades featuring weapons such as intercontinental ballistic missiles,

In a speech ahead of the parade, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the day Pyongyang uses nuclear weapons will be the end of its regime.

Tuesday's parade at a Seoul air base involved some 5,300 troops, 340 types of military equipment and aircraft flypasts. Another smaller-scale parade took place in downtown Seoul, drawing thousands of spectators.



At Least 60 Dead in Nigeria Boat Accident

Nigerian Police officers deploy ahead of an anti government demonstration in Lagos, on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP)
Nigerian Police officers deploy ahead of an anti government demonstration in Lagos, on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP)
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At Least 60 Dead in Nigeria Boat Accident

Nigerian Police officers deploy ahead of an anti government demonstration in Lagos, on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP)
Nigerian Police officers deploy ahead of an anti government demonstration in Lagos, on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP)

At least 60 people were killed after a boat carrying mostly women and children returning from a religious festival in Nigeria's northern Niger state capsized this week, a local official said.
About 160 people have now been rescued after the wooden boat ferrying nearly 300 passengers sank on Tuesday night on the River Niger around the Gbajibo Community, said Jibril Abdullahi Muregi, chairman of the Mokwa local government area.
The boat was returning to Gbajibo from Mundi after the annual Maulud celebration when disaster struck, Muregi said in a statement late on Wednesday
Rescue operations are still ongoing, he said.
It was not yet clear why the boat sank.