North Korea Claims 5 Million New Soldiers Enlisted Ahead Of “Imminent Provocation”
In what is probably a “slightly” exaggerated figure, North Korea claimed on Thursday that some 4.7 million students and workers have volunteered to join or re-enlist in the North Korean army since Kim Jong Un called Donald Trump a “dotard” and vowed to retaliate against the US for President Donald Trump’s threats to “destroy” North Korea. If accurate, that figure would represent nearly 20% of the North’s population (the country is believed to be home to 25 million people, making it about half the size, population-wise as South Korea).
Furthermore, according to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s biggest newspaper among the volunteers were 1.2 million women, which was cited by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Of course, North Korea has made similar claims in the past when tensions with the US have intensified. Pyongyang usually claims that its young citizens voluntarily enlisted in the military in its propaganda campaigns aimed at bolstering national solidarity – even as recently as last month.
North Korea made a similar assertion last month when it condemned the UN Security Council for adopting US-led resolutions over Pyongyang’s launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.
On Tuesday, the US imposed another round of meaningless new sanctions on North Korea’s banks, after President Donald Trump claimed an important victory by revealing that China had instructed its banks to halt business with North Korea. The president reiterated during a press conference with Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy that the US was “totally prepared” to use a military option against the North, which he said would be “totally devastating.” Earlier this week, National Security Advisor HR McMaster said the US had prepared “four or five different scenarios” for how the crisis with North Korea could be resolved, ominously adding that “some are uglier than others.”
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