800,000 People Have Enlisted to Fight the US, According to North Korea

 By Michaels Monday

In Pyongyang, North Korea, soldiers participate in a military parade to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formation of the army.

According to a report in North Korea's state newspaper on Saturday, approximately 800,000 of its residents offered to enlist or reenlist in the country's military to battle the United States.

Over 800,000 students and employees, on Friday alone, across the country expressed a desire to register or reenlist in the military to counter the United States, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper stated.

"The soaring enthusiasm of young people to join the army is a demonstration of the unshakeable will of the younger generation to mercilessly wipe out the war maniacs making last-ditch efforts to eliminate our precious socialist country, and achieve the great cause of national reunification without fail and a clear manifestation of their ardent patriotism," said the North's Rodong Sinmun.

The North's assertion follows the launch of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday in retaliation for continuing military exercises between the United States and South Korea.

On Thursday, just hours before the president of South Korea took off for Tokyo for a summit to explore methods of containing the nuclear-armed North, North Korea launched an ICBM into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

Ballistic missiles from the North are prohibited by United Nations Security Council resolutions, and the launch was denounced by the governments of Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo.

On Monday, "Freedom Shield 23," an 11-day joint exercise between South Korean and US soldiers organised to counter the North's increasing threats, got underway.

With the military exercises, Kim said that South Korea and the US were escalating tensions.

Reporting and Editing by Michaels Monday