North Korea: 4.7 Million People Signed So Army for US Opponent

Pyongyang - North Korea's state-run newspaper wrote a report on Thursday, September 28, which says about 4.7 million students and volunteers are registering to become the country's army.

Thus, the increase in troops means increasing the number of North Korean troops in the world are considered large enough for such a small country.

Launched from the Washington Post on Saturday (30/09/2017), it is very difficult for outside analysts to measure the accuracy of reports Rodong Sinmum newspaper. North Korean government media have issued similar claims in times of tension.

Earlier this summer, for example, the paper claimed that 3.5 million people had registered to become soldiers after the UN imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang.

Most estimates indicate that North Korea has an unusually large number of armed forces with a population of 25 million North Koreans.

The US State Department estimates that North Korea has more than 1.18 million army personnel by 2014, making it the fourth largest army in the world after China (2.37 million), India (1.41 million) and the United States (1.43 million).

By comparison, the Iraqi army in 2003 had only 445,000 troops for a population of 26 million.

The massive army designed by the North Korean Constitution explicitly states that "national defense is the highest duty and honor of its citizens", and citizens are required to serve the armed forces by law.

A 2015 Congressional report from the US Department of Defense estimates that 4-5 percent of North Koreans are in active military service in the Korean People's Army (KPA), while another 25-30 percent are assigned to a reserve unit or paramilitary and will be subject to the mobilization of war.

The effectiveness of such forces is not entirely clear. However, an American soldier who fought in the Korean War nearly seven decades ago showed that the North Korean army was extraordinary in evasion and determined to win.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon report says the KPA's main military equipment is getting older because it is based on 1950s technolgy from the Soviet Union or China.

A Japanese filmmaker who runs a network of citizen journalism in North Korea claimed last month that due to chronic food shortages in the country, most of the soldiers were too weak to fight.

"My contact says when there is talk of war with the US, many North Korean soldiers are in poor physical condition and not fit for war," Jiro Ishimaru told the Guardian newspaper in August.

However, experts say that troops deployed ahead will still pose a threat to South Korea and its US allies in a war.

In any conflict, well-trained North Korean special operations troops - estimated at least 180,000 military personnel - are widely expected to be used to attack major facilities in South Korea if war breaks out.

Along with the rapidly progressing missile program in the country, its nuclear and biological weapons, and the large number of artillery aimed at the capital of South Korea, Pyongyang's large army remains another reason why analysts hesitate to recommend US military action against North Korea, regardless from the leader's repeated threats.