According to the state media, hundreds of thousands of young North Koreans have volunteered for military service to fight against the “US imperialists”. On Friday alone, more than 800,000 youth league officials and students across the country signed up to join the people’s army, KCNA said on Saturday. Photos in the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed long lines of young North Koreans in what appeared to be a construction site.
North Korea says it tested its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, on Thursday. State media described the test as a response to ongoing US-South Korea joint military exercises. KCNA warned Saturday its biggest maneuvers in five years are nearing an “unforgivable red line.”
Pyongyang sees such maneuvers as preparation for an invasion of North Korea and has repeatedly threatened “overwhelming measures”. Last year, ruler Kim Jong-un declared his internationally isolated country an “irreversible nuclear power”. Earlier this month, he also ordered the military to step up maneuvers in preparation for “real war.”