North Korea reports surge in military applications amid rising tensions with South Korea

North Korean state media reported on October 16 that approximately 1.4 million young individuals have applied to join or return to the army in a single week, attributing this surge to escalating tensions with South Korea following a provocative drone incursion.

The state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) characterized the situation as pushing the region to "the brink of war", Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

This latest development follows North Korea's allegations that South Korea deployed drones over Pyongyang, disseminating a "huge number" of anti-North leaflets. In response, the North destroyed inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its territory and issued stern warnings that the South would "pay a dear price."

The KCNA report highlighted the resolve of the young applicants, which included students and officials from youth leagues who had submitted petitions to enlist. They expressed a determination to engage in a "sacred war of destroying the enemy with the arms of the revolution."

"If a war breaks out, the Republic of Korea (ROK) will be wiped off the map. As it wants a war, we are willing to put an end to its existence," the KCNA report stated, underscoring the aggressive rhetoric coming from Pyongyang.

North Korea has a history of making similar claims regarding enlistment spikes during periods of heightened tensions, though verifying such statements from the reclusive regime is challenging. For context, last year, state media reported that 800,000 citizens volunteered to join the military to combat the United States, while in 2017, nearly 3.5 million party members, workers, and soldiers reportedly offered to serve.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), North Korea maintains approximately 1.28 million active military personnel and around 600,000 reservists, in addition to 5.7 million Worker/Peasant Red Guard reservists.

In Seoul, the South Korean defence ministry refrained from commenting on the KCNA report but reiterated that any harm inflicted on the safety of South Koreans would lead to "the end of [North Korea's] regime."

Later on October 16, vice foreign ministers from South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a press conference following talks in Seoul, where they condemned North Korea for "intentionally raising tension" by alleging the drone incursion and sealing the southern border.

Western nations have long accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia for its conflict in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted on October 16 that North Korea was also sending personnel, effectively becoming a participant in the war. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell confirmed signs of North Korea's increased material support for Russia, which is reportedly being felt on the battlefield, although the U.S. is still evaluating the specifics of these claims.

In a further effort to counter North Korean provocations, the three officials announced the formation of a new 11-nation team to monitor the enforcement of sanctions against the North, following recent failures by Russia and China to support a U.N. mechanism.

Analysts suggest that Pyongyang may be attempting to consolidate internal unity while inflating tensions with the South as a justification for future provocations. An official from Seoul's unification ministry remarked that the North appears to be exerting public pressure on its leader, Kim Jong Un, amid ongoing economic challenges.

Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, noted that North Korea seems to be leveraging the drone incident to rally public sentiment against the South as part of its broader strategy to sever cross-border relations and promote a "two-state" narrative.

Earlier this year, Kim declared South Korea a "primary foe," stating that unification was no longer feasible. Since then, North Korea has taken significant steps to diminish inter-Korean ties, leaving the two nations technically still at war since the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.