[Korea Quiz] Armed Forces Day

Find the answer at the bottom.

South Korea boasts one of the world's strongest military forces, a result of the Korean War (1950-53) having ended in an armistice but without a peace treaty, with continuing threats from nuclear-armed North Korea across the border.

The country marks Oct. 1 every year as the Armed Forces Day, to honor the services of all military personnel -- including young conscripts -- to the nation. All able-bodied male South Korean citizens over age 19 are required to serve in the military for 18 to 36 months.

According to Global Firepower, the US-based military power assessment organization, S. Korea ranks fifth in military strength after the US, Russia, China and India.

Armed Forces Day is not typically an official public holiday, but this year, the government has designated it one.

Its origin dates back to the Korean War. The conflict began on June 25, 1950, with a North Korean invasion. Seoul, the South Korean capital, fell just three days later, but with the support of the US-led United Nations, the tide turned in September. By Oct. 1 that year, South Korean troops finally crossed the 38th parallel, the inter-Korean border, advancing north with formidable force. Armed Forces Day commemorates this significant moment in the war's history, though the fighting continued until the armistice was negotiated in July 1953.

To mark Armed Forces Day, South Korea holds various events. Military parades have fluctuated in size and scale; they ceased during the previous Moon Jae-in administration but have been reinstated under the current Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

The parade is an occasion to showcase the country’s state-of-the-art arms and defense technologies.

South Korea, which ranked the world's ninth-largest arms exporter in the five years from 2018 to 2022, has solidified its role as a global arms dealer since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, producing weapons “faster and cheaper than the US,” according to Bloomberg.

Answer: (b)