Radio Liberty, citing Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported on 16th October that approximately 1.4 million Koreans – including students and youth organizations – joined or returned to army this week.
According to Radio Liberty, the young people are “filled with determination” to fight in the “sacred war to destroy the enemy using the weapons of revolution. ‘”
This announcement comes as tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rising. KCNA reports North Korea detonated portions of highways and rail lines on its side the inter-Korean boundary on 15 October. In response, the South Korean military fired warning shots.
Pyongyang accuses Seoul of sending drones into the North Korean capital.
The North Koreans have been sending trash-filled balloons across the border to South Korea since May. This has heightened tensions.
Pyongyang claims that these launches are a response to anti-regime balloons sent out by activists in the South.
“If war breaks out, we will wipe the Republic of Korea off the map.” We are prepared to wipe out its existence, since it wants war,” the state-run media outlet reported.
This is not the only time North Korea has made similar claims about military recruiting. North Korean media reported a similar claim last year about its citizens joining the army to fight the United States.
This comes also after Ukrainian intelligence reports on the formation of a North Korean battalion of 3,000 soldiers within the Russian 11th Airborne Brigade.
On 13 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Russia’s expanding alliance with North Korea by stating that North Korean experts were being sent to help the Russian occupation army. Zelenskyy announced the next day that the issue of North Korea’s de facto participation in the war against Ukraine had been discussed at a meeting with the Supreme Commander-in Chief’s Staff.
Please read:
* ISW: North Korean military assistance could allow Putin to avoid mobilization
* US official: North Korean soldiers in Ukraine would demonstrate Russian “desperation”.
Sources in Ukraine say that Russians are searching for 18 North Koreans who have deserted near the border with Ukraine.
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