1.4 Million North Korean Youth Claimed to Have Joined the Army

JAKARTA - North Korean state media reported on Wednesday that about 1.4 million young people have applied to join or return to the army this week, accusing Seoul of provocative drone attacks that have brought "the tense situation to the brink of war."

The young people, including university students and youth league officials who have signed a petition to join the army, vowed to fight in the "holy war to crush the enemy with weapons of revolution," the KCNA report said, as quoted by Reuters on October 16.

Photos published by the agency showed what it said were young people signing the petition at an undisclosed location.

North Korea's claim that more than a million young people have applied to enlist in the Korean People's Army in just two days comes at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has made similar claims in the past when tensions have been high in the region.

Last year, state media reported that 800,000 of its citizens had applied to join the North Korean military to fight the United States.

In 2017, nearly 3.5 million workers, party members and soldiers volunteered to join or rejoin its army, the reclusive country’s state media said at the time.

However, it is extremely difficult to verify North Korea’s claims.

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

The IISS also says Pyongyang has a 5.7 million-strong Workers/Peasants Red Guard reserve force with many unarmed units.

In the latest sign of rising tensions, North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and railways on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas on Tuesday, prompting the South Korean military to fire warning shots.

Pyongyang said last week it would completely cut off inter-Korean roads and railways and further fortify its side of the border as part of its push for a “two-state” system, abandoning its long-held goal of unification.

The two Koreas are technically still at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

North Korea has also accused Seoul of sending drones over its capital and the two Koreas have been at odds over trash balloons flown since May from North Korea. Pyongyang says the launches are a response to balloons sent by anti-regime activists in South Korea. The South Korean government has declined to say whether its military or civilians have flown the drones that allegedly flew over Pyongyang.

"If war breaks out, the ROK will be wiped off the map. Since it wants war, we are willing to end its existence," the KCNA report said, referring to South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.