North Korea on Saturday said that nearly 3.5 million youths and retired soldiers have sought to enlist in the Army to fight against the US, as tensions between Washington and Pyongyang continue to mount.
North Korean state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Saturday that a total of 3.47 million people, including students, young workers and retired soldiers had asked to join the armed forces after the regime announced a retaliation against the US on 7 August for its support of the new UNSC sanctions.
On 5 August, the UNSC voted unanimously for fresh sanctions on Pyongyang following two intercontinental ballistic missiles tests in July, prompting the country to warn of a “stern action of justice” against the US and a missile strike around the US territory of Guam.
“All the people are rising up across the country to retaliate against the US thousands of times,” Yonhap news agency quoted the Workers' Party newspaper as saying.
North Korea has a population of 25 million, with an Army of between 7,00,000 and 1.3 million members.
The state media earlier this week showed images of a mobilisation of tens of thousands of citizens parading through Kim Il-sung square in Pyongyang carrying banners in defence of Kim Jong-un and denouncing the latest UN sanctions.
State news agency KCNA reported such mobilisations all over the country on Thursday and Friday.
Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have escalated due to North Korea's tests of nuclear and inter-continental ballistic missile.
US President Donald Trump this week warned North Korea he would respond with "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if Kim's regime did not cease to issue threats to the US and its allies.
(Love your mother tongue? This Independence Day, tell The Quint why and how you love your bhasha. You may even win a BOL t-shirt! Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at bol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)