Gyeryong: South Korea on Wednesday held a ceremony to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the founding of its armed forces in a scaled-down event in the aftermath of last year's botched martial law bid.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Armed Forces Day event took place at the military headquarters in Gyeryong, some 145 kilometers south of Seoul, involving 998 troops and around 100 pieces of military equipment. The defense ministry decided to scale down this year's celebration, skipping a large-scale military parade that was held in downtown Seoul last year, following the martial law bid imposed by now-jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Although a military parade was not scheduled, the military planned to showcase an array of the nation's key weapons systems at the ceremony, such as the 230-mm Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher, the K9 self-propelled howitzer, and the KAAV amphibious assault vehicle, among others. A number of assets to be deployed to the military were also set to be disclosed to the public for the first time, including a homegrown bomb disposal robot and the low observable Wingman unmanned aerial vehicle under development.

Formation flights involving a fleet of fighter jets and helicopters were also scheduled to take place, followed by a performance by the Air Force's Black Eagles aerobatic team, according to the ministry. A military parade has usually taken place every five years to commemorate Armed Forces Day. However, under the preceding Yoon administration, the armed forces held a large military parade for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024, which appeared to be a display of military strength.