North Korea claims 800,000 of young people have volunteered in the army to take part in the ‘fight against the American imperialists’

Volunteers determined to “completely destroy” North Korea’s enemies and unite the two Koreas first volunteered or re-enlisted in the military on Friday at state-sponsored events, according to a a newspaper article. There are also photos of people waiting in long lines at construction sites and other outdoor locations, allegedly to take notes.

“About 800,000” students and workers, dubbed the country’s “vanguard of youth”, “immediately joined the war to defend the motherland and destroy the enemy”, the Rondong Sinmun reported on Saturday, quoted by the NK News website, which monitors events in North Korea.

According to a report by NK News, the young volunteers were responding to provocative actions by the United States and South Korea, which the newspaper called “American imperialists and puppet traitors” seeking to destroy “independence and the right to North Korea to live and develop”.

The young volunteers are determined to “ruthlessly eliminate the war fanatics who are the last to try to erase our socialist homeland”, NK News quoted North Korean media as saying.

“Although the age of enlistment is not disclosed, North Korea’s conscription system requires all men to serve at least 10 years and women at least three years,” NK News reported.

Friday’s mass draft came a day after North Korea launched a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which Pyongyang said traveled about 1,000 km ‘before landing precisely’ at a predetermined location. of the South Korean Eastern Sea, also called the Sea of ​​Japan.

North Korea said it launched the missile in response to “provocative and aggressive” military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang sees these joint drills as a rehearsal for an invasion of North Korea by Washington and Seoul.

South Korean and US forces began an 11-day joint military exercise called Freedom Shield 23 on Monday.