North Korea claims 1.4 million youths joined the army in just 2 days

More than 1.4 million youths have joined or returned to the Korean People's Army (KPA) voluntarily over a period of two days, reported North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Oct. 16, 2024.

The youths supposedly comprise students and youth league officials who have vowed to "put an end" to the existence of the South Korea, officially known as the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Photos of the enlistment were released by KCNA, featuring crowds of young adults waving flags and hunched over tables supposedly signing up from Oct. 14 t0 15. 

According to KCNA, the "passionate" young enlistees are "determined to turn out in a sacred war of destroying the enemy with the arms of the revolution."

It added that enthusiasm for joining the army was high:

"The young people's zeal for joining the army is an eruption of the hatred and retaliatory spirit of the younger generation who are determined to punish the scum who committed a hideous crime to ignite a war at any cost, and end the horrible evil relationship."

The report added:

"If a war breaks out, the ROK will be wiped off the map. As it wants a war, we are willing to put an end to its existence."

Tensions rise between South Korea and North Korea

The news comes at a time where tensions between the two countries are especially high.

Here's a quick timeline of the events that have taken place over the past two weeks:

Oct. 9

General Staff from North Korea's KPA announced that it would completely sever all roads and railways linked to South Korea and "fortify" areas for self-defence, in a report published by KCNA.

The report stated:

"To this end, a project will be launched first on October 9 to completely cut off roads and railways connected to the ROK and fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defence structures.

For our army to permanently shut off and block the southern border with the ROK, the primary hostile state and invariable principal enemy, in the current situation is a self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security of the DPRK."

The report concluded with a note that the army had sent a telephone message to the U.S. forces side to prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict over the fortification project. 

Oct. 11

On Oct. 11, North Korea accused ROK of sending drones into Pyongyang over a period of two weeks, as reported by Reuters.

The drones had allegedly dropped leaflets containing anti-North Korean points.

However, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) responded by stating it "cannot confirm the truth of North Korea's claims", instead choosing to highlight the occurrence of yet another round of trash-filled balloons sent into the South by the North. 

Oct. 15

North Korea had also been planning to blow up roads and railways to "completely separate" the two countries, reported the BBC. 

According to The Korea Times, South Korea's military had already been "observing" the situation, before the roads and railways north of the Demarcation line were blown up on Oct. 15.

While the roads were not in frequent use, they were symbolic of inter-Korean cooperation. 

JCS confirmed that North Korea had exploded part of the road north of the Military Demarcation Line at around noon.

The office added that it had fired shots in response as a warning, and have heightened surveillance as a result.  

South Korean news agency Yonhap has reported that South Korea's Ministry of Unification has released a statement "strongly" condemning the "regressive" act.

"North Korea's explosion of the northern part of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads is a clear violation of an inter-Korean agreement and a very abnormal act. We strongly condemn the North's move," it added. 

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Top image from KCNA