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.



Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
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Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the US ally hand it over.

In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China.

The post was an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

The United States largely built the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the US government fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.

"The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

"It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.