North Korea says 1.4 million young people apply to join army

16/10/2024 11:55

        North Korean state media said on Wednesday around 1.4 million young people had applied to join or return to the army this week, accusing Seoul of a provocative drone incursion that had brought the "tense situation to the brink of war".
        
        The KCNA report said, the young people, including students and youth league officials who had signed petitions to join the army, were determined to fight in a "sacred war of destroying the enemy with the arms of the revolution."
        
        Photographs published by KCNA showed what it said were young people signing petitions at an undisclosed location.
        
        North Korea's claim of having more than one million young people volunteering to enlist in the country's Korean People's Army in just two days comes at a time when tensions on the Korean peninsula are running high.
        
        North Korea has made similar claims in the past when there have been heightened tensions in the region.
        
        Last year, state media reported on 800,000 of its citizens volunteering to join the North's military to fight against the United States.