North Korea claims that nearly 800,000 of its citizens have volunteered to join or reenlist in the nation’s military to fight against the United States, North Korea’s state newspaper reported on Saturday.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that nearly 800,000 students and workers expressed their willingness to enlist or re-enlist in the military to counter the United States nationwide on Friday alone.
“The growing enthusiasm of young people to join the army demonstrates the undying will of the young generation to ruthlessly eliminate the war maniacs who are making a last ditch effort to destroy our precious socialist country and achieve the great cause of national reunification without failed and a clear manifestation of his ardent patriotism,” the paper said.
North Korea’s claim came after the secretive communist state on Thursday launched the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in response to the ongoing US-South Korea military exercises.
Pyongyang fired the ICBM into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan on Thursday, hours before South Korea’s president was due to head to Tokyo for a summit discussing ways to counter the nuclear-armed North.
The North’s ballistic missiles are banned under UN Security Council resolutions and the launch drew condemnation from governments in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.
South Korean and US militaries on Monday began an 11-day joint exercise, dubbed “Freedom Shield 23”, on a scale not seen since 2017 to counter the growing threats from the North.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accused the US and South Korea of raising tensions with military drills.
