North claims 1.4 million have enlisted, re-enlisted in armed forces

North Korean state media claimed Monday that 1.4 million people, including high school students, had enlisted or re-enlisted in the country’s armed forces to help the regime “destroy” its enemies.

Footage released by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central Televsion shows students at Kim Il Sung University in the capital enlisting or re-enlisting for military service in what state media called a popular reaction to high tensions on the Korean Peninsula. [YONHAP]

North Korean state media claimed Monday that 1.4 million people, including high school students, had enlisted or re-enlisted in the country’s armed forces to help the regime “destroy” its enemies.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), “soaring anger and hostility are bursting aflame in various parts of the country against the United States and South Korean puppet rebels who are crazy about reckless nuclear war provocations.”

The state news agency claimed that “the number of young people nationwide who have eagerly volunteered to join the [Korean] People’s Army has reached 1.4 million as of March 19.”

The figures quoted by the KCNA are not possible to verify, given tight controls of information flow in and out of North Korea.

According to the KCNA, more than 950,000 youth also signed up for or re-entered work at state-owned companies, including Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Works, Namhung Youth Chemical Union and Sunchon Youth Coal Works, as a form of “pledging victory.”

The state news agency claimed the number of enlistees reached 180,000 in North Pyongan Province, the region surrounding the capital Pyongyang.

The report also emphasized that “not only young college students, but also high school students across the country expressed their determination to join the fight to defeat the invaders.”

The state-controlled Korean Central Television over the weekend broadcast scenes of young people, predominantly men, signing their names onto lists of people who pledge to enlist or re-enlist in the regime's armed forces and chanting slogans outdoors.

The KCNA claimed in an earlier report released on Saturday that 800,000 young people had decided to enlist or re-enlist in the military as of March 17.

The North’s state media has released stories of young people volunteering for military duty during previous periods of high tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The regime’s state media has also previously emphasized the importance of self-reliance for solving the country’s economic challenges.

An editorial published last month by the Rodong Sinmun — the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party — urged North Koreans to strive for “economic independence” and claimed foreign aid is “bait used to curb and subjugate other countries’ economic development and undermine their economic prestige and interests.”

In an implied acknowledgement of the regime’s ongoing economic struggles, the editorial said, “Pursuing independent development requires us to overcome countless challenges,” but argued the regime “has been able to endure military blackmail and high-intensity pressure and constantly elevate its national power on a strong foundation based on the independent national economy prepared by the entire people tightening their belts.”

The KCNA’s report on voluntary enlistment by North Korean youth in state-owned enterprises appears to be a similar propaganda effort to stress youth solidarity with the regime across economic sectors.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]