North Korea, Pyongyang: 1.4 million young people enlisted in the army in one week

About 1.4 million young people, including students and youth league officers, applied this week to enlist or re-enlist in the North Korean military, in response to South Korean drone flights over the over Pyongyang, which brought “an already tense situation to the brink of war”. This was reported today by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (“KCNA”), which also published photographs showing lines of young people waiting to apply for jobs. enlist. North Korean state media has made similar claims in times of crisis before: last year, for example, Pyongyang claimed that 800 thousand citizens had volunteered in the event of a conflict with the United States. In 3.5, however, nearly 1.28 million North Korean workers, Workers’ Party members and soldiers offered to enlist or re-enlist in the armed forces, the country’s media reported at the time. Verifying the veracity of these statements is almost impossible. According to the think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies, North Korea can count on approximately 600 million active-duty troops and 5,7 thousand reservists. Pyongyang could also count on 30 million Red Guard reservists, most of them unarmed workers and peasants.

North Korea yesterday blew up sections of roads crossing the border between the two Koreas along the east and west coasts of the Korean Peninsula, as planned the day before by Seoul, which had reported the preliminary activities of North Korean sappers . This was reported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean armed forces. This action, essentially demonstrative in nature – all land connections between the two Koreas have been interrupted for years – follows North Korea’s accusation that Seoul sent drones into the skies over Pyongyang, dropping leaflets bearing slogans against the government of Kim Jong-un.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened an extraordinary high-level meeting on national security on Monday. This was reported by North Korean state media, according to which the North Korean leader discussed adopting an “immediate military action” plan amid growing tensions with Korea South. The meeting held in Pyongyang was attended by the North Korean leader. security officials, including the army chief and other senior officers of the armed forces, as well as the ministers of state security and defense. Kim “outlined the direction of immediate military action and indicated the important tasks to be carried out in the war deterrence operation and in exercising the right of self-defense,” the news agency reported. Korean official press (“Kcna”).

Over the weekend, North Korea placed military forces deployed on the border with South Korea on high alert, after accusing Seoul of sending drones into the skies over Pyongyang. North Korea’s military headquarters has ordered artillery units on the border to “prepare to open fire” in the event of further violations of the national airspace, the North Korean agency reported yesterday. North Korean official press, KCNA. Pyongyang, which accuses South Korea of ”provocations to war”, claims that Seoul has sent drones into the skies of Pyongyang three times since early October, and that the latter have dropped leaflets denouncing the government led by Kim on North Korea. the capital Jong-un. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea’s armed forces said in a statement that they were aware of North Korean military activities across the border and were ready to respond to any provocation .

The South Korean armed forces have not officially confirmed the sending of drones into the skies of Pyongyang: yesterday, the spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean armed forces, Colonel Lee Sung-jun, said the armed forces are “ready (to face) any kind of provocation,” and added that “the responsibility for the current circumstances lies solely with North Korea, and we urge them to stop their disgusting and deplorable balloon launches full of garbage.” Although Seoul has not confirmed sending drones into Pyongyang’s skies, the operation could be Seoul’s retaliation for sending thousands of garbage-filled balloons into South Korean skies, which the North undertaken since last May in response to cross-border propaganda activities. by South Korean pro-democracy activists. Today, confirming Pyongyang’s accusations, North Korean state media published photographs taken by night vision systems showing one of South Korea’s unmanned aerial vehicles flying over Pyongyang and intending to drop leaflets.

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