More than 800,000 North Korean citizens have volunteered to join the armed forces to fight “American imperialists”, the official KCNA news agency reported on Saturday, days after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.
After a year that saw a record number of weapons tests and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington stepped up security cooperation and this week began their biggest joint military exercises in five years.
North Korea views the drills as a rehearsal for an invasion, having repeatedly warned it will take “devastating” measures in response. North Korea’s official news agency described the ongoing maneuvers as an attempt by the US to “provoke nuclear war” and noted that hundreds of thousands of people had been recruited in response.
The agency noted that the young volunteers are determined to “mercilessly eliminate the predators of war”, so they joined the army “to protect the country”.
On Friday, he added, “more than 800,000 junior league officers and students from across the country have volunteered to join the Korean People’s Army.” Footage released by North Korean official Rodong Sinmun shows young North Koreans waiting in long lines to sign at what appears to be a construction site.
North Korea confirmed it had test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile called the Hwasong-17 on Thursday, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency reported. The North Korean news agency called the missile test “a stern warning to enemies who intend to raise tensions on the Korean peninsula”. The agency said on Saturday that the ongoing exercise was “approaching a red line that cannot be crossed”.
Last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country’s status as a “nuclear power” was “irreversible”. Last week, Kim ordered his troops to step up military exercises in preparation for a “real war”.
Yang Moo-jin, director of the North Korean University of Studies in Seoul, told the AFP that Pyongyang uses simulations to justify its nuclear program to the North Korean people as “fundamental and indispensable”, “spreading the idea that Korea southern. The US military exercises are aimed at destroying the current North Korean regime before occupying its capital, Pyongyang.
Source: EuroNews
I’m Jackson Smith, a news writer for the website News Unrolled. I specialize in world news, as my recent articles have covered topics such as global politics and international economics. My work has been featured in major publications like The Guardian, Forbes, and Reuters. I also have experience working with small media outlets all over the world.
