US bomber set to participate in South Korea military parade, drawing ire of North

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will hold a military parade in Seoul on Tuesday that could include, for the first time, a flypast by a U.S. B-1B supersonic bomber as neighbouring North Korea criticised the deployment of U.S. military assets on the Korean peninsula.

The bomber will take part in the Armed Forces Day parade, which will include other aircraft flypasts, missile displays and more than 5,000 troops, local media reported.

President Yoon Suk Yeol revived the parade last year, and military officials have said it was partly intended to showcase South Korea's military might as a deterrence to North Korea.

South Korea's military and U.S. Forces Korea have not confirmed the bomber's participation. But a B-1B was present at a ceremony ahead of the parade, according to media reports.

Hours before the ceremony, Kim Kang Il, North Korea's vice defence minister, criticised the B-1B's planned flypast and also accused Washington of conducting a "reckless military bluff" by recently sending a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea.

In comments carried by state news agency KCNA, Kim called for retaliatory measures, saying: "We can examine such fresh action plans any time and carry them out."

He also said North Korea would also continue to improve its "powerful war deterrent," according to KCNA.

In a speech ahead of the parade, Yoon warned Pyongyang against using nuclear weapons. He also celebrated the launch of the Strategic Command, tasked with responding to North Korea's weapons of mass destruction.

"If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face a resolute, overwhelming response from our military and the U.S. alliance," Yoon said.

"That day will see the end of the North Korean regime."

Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticised the presence of the U.S. nuclear submarine in South Korea, which docked at the port city of Busan to get supplies and allow crew members to rest.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Jamie Freed, Ed Davies and Miral Fahmy)