Approximately 1.4 million Koreans, including students and members of youth organizations, joined or returned to the army this week, Radio Liberty reported on 16 October, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Accordign to the Radio Liberty, these young individuals are “filled with determination to fight in the ‘sacred war of destroying the enemy with the weapons of revolution.'”
This announcement comes at a time of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. KCNA reports that North Korea detonated sections of highways and railway lines on its side of the inter-Korean border on 15 October. This, in response, prompted the South Korean military to fire warning shots.
Pyongyang accused Seoul of sending drones to the North Korean capital.
Additionally, tensions between North and South Korea have been exacerbated by the issue of trash-filled balloons that North Korea has been sending across the border since May.
Pyongyang claims these launches are in response to anti-regime propaganda balloons sent by activists from the South.
“If a war breaks out, the Republic of Korea will be wiped off the map. Since it wants war, we are ready to end its existence,” the state media outlet reported.
This is not the first time North Korea has made such claims about military recruitment. Last year, North Korean media made a similar statement about its citizens voluntarily joining the army to fight against the United States.
This also comes after Ukrainian intelligence reports about the formation of a 3,000-strong North Korean battalion within the Russian 11th Airborne Brigade.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Russia’s expanding alliance with North Korea on 13 October, stating that North Korean specialists were being sent to assist the Russian occupation army. The following day, Zelenskyy announced that the issue of North Korea’s de facto involvement in the war against Ukraine was discussed at a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Staff.
Read also:
- ISW: North Korean military aid could allow Putin to avoid mobilization
- US official: North Korean troops in Ukraine would show Russian “desperation”
- Russians search for 18 North Korean deserters near Ukraine’s border, Ukrainian intel source says
