Millions of young North Koreans join the army amid tensions with South Korea

North Korean youth sign applications to enlist or return to the military in this image released on October 16.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on October 16 that about 1.4 million young North Koreans had registered or re-enlisted from October 14-15.

The article criticized the fact that many unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from South Korea flew over to drop leaflets, pushing "the tense situation to the brink of war".

North Korea last week accused South Korea of ​​sending drones over Pyongyang to drop “a large number” of anti-North Korean leaflets. It then blew up inter-Korean roads and railways north of the border on October 15 and warned that South Korea would “pay dearly.”

Young people, including students and youth union officials, have applied for military service, determined to fight a “sacred war of annihilating the enemy with the weapons of revolution,” according to KCNA. The article threatened that if war broke out, South Korea “would be wiped off the map.”

North Korea has previously reported enlisting young men during times of heightened tensions. Last year, state media reported that about 800,000 people volunteered to join the army to fight the United States.

According to data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS-UK), North Korea has about 1.28 million active soldiers and about 600,000 reserve soldiers.

South Korea's Defense Ministry has not commented on the KCNA article, but has warned that if North Korea harms the safety of South Koreans, that day will be "the end of that regime."

On October 16, the vice foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a press conference after talks in Seoul and strongly condemned North Korea for "deliberately raising tensions" by claiming that UAVs had intruded and closed the southern border.

On the same day, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that seven countries including South Korea, the United States and Japan will launch a new joint mechanism to monitor violations of sanctions against North Korea.

South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun said North Korea "continues to violate UN Security Council resolutions in various areas" related to nuclear missiles, arms trading, cyber theft through hacking and illegal money transfers via ships at sea. Pyongyang has not commented on the accusation.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/kcna-hang-trieu-thanh-nien-trieu-tien-nhap-ngu-giua-cang-thang-voi-han-quoc-185241016191940811.htm