N Korea mobilises army of loyalists
China’s President Xi urges Trump to exercise restraint
ALMOST 3.5million workers, party members and soldiers volunteered to join or rejoin the army to resist new UN sanctions and fight the US amid fresh tension between Pyongyang and Washington, North Korea said yesterday.
Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official newspaper, said the volunteers had offered to join or rejoin the People’s Army after the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) issued a statement condemning new sanctions imposed by the UN in retaliation for North Korean missile tests.
Earlier this week, nucleararmed North Korea threatened to strike the US and its Pacific territory of Guam.
In August 2015, 1 million North Koreans offered to enlist or re-enlist in the army when a mine exploded in the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas, raising tension.
North Korea warned foreign diplomats to leave Pyongyang in 2013 when it suspended work at a joint inter-korean industrial park and threatened missile strikes on US Pacific bases, notably in Guam and Hawaii.
President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on Friday, saying the US military was “locked and loaded” as Pyongyang accused him of driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war and world powers expressed alarm.
The Pentagon said the US and South Korea would proceed as planned with a joint military exercise in 10 days, an action sure to further antagonise North Korea.
China, Russia and Germany voiced dismay at the war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.
Trump, who has pressed China to help rein in its ally North Korea, spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday night, with the two leaders reiterating their mutual commitment to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, the White House said.
“President Trump and President Xi agreed North Korea must stop its provocative and escalatory behaviour,” the statement said.
China’s state media said Xi told Trump the North Korean nuclear issue required a peaceful resolution through talks, and urged the “relevant side” to exercise restraint, avoiding words or action that raise tension.
Trump, on holiday at his New Jersey golf resort again referred to North Korea’s leader in his latest remarks. “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely,” he wrote on Twitter. – Reuters