North Korea claims 1.4 million apply to join army amid tensions with South

In escalating rhetoric, Pyongyang blames Seoul for drone incursion that brought ‘tense concern to the brink of war’.

North Korea claims much than a cardinal young radical person signed up to articulation oregon rejoin the service this week, authorities media reported, aft accusing South Korea of sending propaganda drones to Pyongyang and blowing up borderline roads.

The authoritative Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported connected Wednesday that 1.4 cardinal young people, including students and younker league officials, signed the petition to articulation the army.

“Millions of young radical person turned retired successful the nationwide conflict to hitch retired the ROK scum who committed a superior provocation of violating the sovereignty of the DPRK done a drone infiltration,” KCNA said, referring to some countries by their authoritative acronyms.

There was nary contiguous remark from South Korea, which has antecedently warned that if North Korea inflicts harm connected the information of South Koreans, that time volition beryllium “the extremity of its regime”.

While North Korea has mandatory subject work for men for up to 10 years, it has antecedently claimed that much radical person signed up to articulation the service during times of heightened tensions with either South Korea oregon the United States.

Last year, authorities media said 800,000 citizens volunteered to articulation the North’s subject to combat against the US. It reported successful 2017 that astir 3.5 cardinal workers, enactment members and soldiers volunteered to serve. Such statements from the isolated state are hard to verify.

According to information from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), North Korea has 1.28 cardinal progressive soldiers and astir 600,000 reservists, with 5.7 cardinal Worker-Peasant Red Guard reservists among galore unarmed units.

“If a warfare breaks out, the ROK volition beryllium wiped disconnected the map. As it wants a war, we are consenting to enactment an extremity to its existence,” KCNA said, besides publishing photographs of what it said were younker signing petitions astatine an undisclosed location.

Tensions connected Korean Peninsula rising

The study comes arsenic North Korea blew up sections of the inter-Korean roads and obstruction lines connected its broadside of the borderline connected Tuesday, crushing a longstanding extremity of unification.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with cross-border affairs, condemned the enactment and referred to it arsenic “highly abnormal”.

“It is deplorable that North Korea is repeatedly conducting specified regressive behaviour,” ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told a briefing.

Seoul besides responded to the incidental by firing informing shots southbound of the subject demarcation enactment betwixt the 2 Koreas.

On Sunday, South Korea’s Ministry of Defence warned, “if North Korea inflicts harm connected the information of our people, that time volition beryllium the extremity of the North Korean regime”, the Yonhap quality bureau reported.

Tensions accrued importantly last week aft North Korea accused Seoul of sending drones implicit the capital, Pyongyang, and scattering a “huge number” of anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets and warned that immoderate further flights would beryllium considered a declaration of war.

South Korea’s authorities initially denied sending drones, but North Korea claims it has “clear evidence” of authoritative involvement.

Since May, the 2 Koreas person besides argued implicit balloons containing rubbish that North Korea has sent crossed the border.

Pyongyang has said the balloons were utilized successful retaliation against balloons sent by South Korean activists, which incorporate anti-North Korea leaflets and USB drives of K-pop songs.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies