North Korea claims 1.4 million apply to join army amid tensions with South

In escalating rhetoric, Pyongyang blames Seoul for drone incursion that brought ‘tense situation to the brink of war’.

North Korea claims more than a million young people have signed up to join or rejoin the army this week, state media reported, after accusing South Korea of sending propaganda drones to Pyongyang and blowing up border roads.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday that 1.4 million young people, including students and youth league officials, signed the petition to join the army.

“Millions of young people have turned out in the nationwide struggle to wipe out the ROK scum who committed a serious provocation of violating the sovereignty of the DPRK through a drone infiltration,” KCNA said, referring to both countries by their official acronyms.

There was no immediate comment from South Korea, which has previously warned that if North Korea inflicts harm on the safety of South Koreans, that day will be “the end of the North Korean regime”.

While North Korea has mandatory military service for men for up to 10 years, it has previously claimed that more people have signed up to join the army during times of heightened tensions with either South Korea or the United States.

Last year, state media said 800,000 citizens volunteered to join the North’s military to fight against the US. It reported in 2017 that nearly 3.5 million workers, party members and soldiers volunteered to serve. Such statements from the isolated country are difficult to verify.

According to data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), North Korea has 1.28 million active soldiers and about 600,000 reservists, with 5.7 million Worker-Peasant Red Guard reservists among many unarmed units.

“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,” KCNA said, also publishing photographs of what it said were youth signing petitions at an undisclosed location.

Tensions on Korean Peninsula rising

The report comes as North Korea blew up sections of the inter-Korean roads on its side of the border on Tuesday, crushing a longstanding goal of unification.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with cross-border affairs, condemned the act and referred to it as “highly abnormal”.

“It is deplorable that North Korea is repeatedly conducting such regressive behaviour,” ministry spokesman Koo Byoung-sam told a briefing.

Seoul responded to the incident by firing warning shots south of the military demarcation line between the two Koreas.

Tensions increased significantly last week after North Korea accused Seoul of sending drones over the capital, Pyongyang, and scattering a “huge number” of anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets and warned that any further flights would be considered a declaration of war.

South Korea’s government initially denied sending drones, but North Korea claims it has “clear evidence” of official involvement.

Since May, the two Koreas have also argued over balloons containing rubbish that North Korea has sent across the border.

Pyongyang has said the balloons were used in retaliation against balloons sent by South Korean activists, which contain anti-North Korea leaflets and USB drives of K-pop songs.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies