More Than A Million Young Men Enlisted In The North Korean Army

North Korea said today that more than a million young people enlisted in the army this week, after Pyongyang accused Seoul of sending 'drones' into North Korean territory and threatened to retaliate.

"Millions of young people have joined the national struggle to eliminate the scum of the Republic of Korea who committed a grave provocation by violating the sovereignty of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea through drone infiltration," wrote the North's official news agency - Korean KCNA, referring to both countries by their official names.

According to KCNA, more than 1.4 million young people, including students and youth league leaders, volunteered on Monday and Tuesday to join the Korean People's Army.

North Korea, where long military service is mandatory for all men, has seen massive waves of patriotic enlistment in the past during periods of high tension with Seoul or Washington.

The North Korean regime has complained about the sending of several 'drones' since October, which allegedly dropped propaganda leaflets with "inflammatory rumors and nonsense" over the capital.

Pyongyang held Seoul responsible for its actions and warned that sending yet another drone would be considered "a declaration of war."

On Sunday, the North Korean government said it had ordered eight artillery brigades to be "fully prepared to open fire", in addition to reinforcing aerial observation posts in Pyongyang.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun denied any involvement. However, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it "could not confirm whether the North Korean allegations were true or not."

The shipment may have come from South Korean groups that regularly send propaganda and dollars to the North, usually in balloons but sometimes in small drones that are difficult to detect by North and South air defenses, observers said.

Authorities in Gyeonggi province, which borders North Korea, will designate the border cities of Yeoncheon, Gimpo and Paju "as special 'danger' zones where anyone attempting to send leaflets to the North could be criminally investigated", an official told news agency France-Presse.