NK claims almost 800,000 people have signed up for military to fight against US

North Korea launches a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang, Marc 16, in this photo carried by its official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the following day. Yonhap

North Korea claims that about 800,000 of its citizens have volunteered to join or reenlist in the nation's military to fight against the United States, the country's state newspaper reported Saturday.

The Rodong Sinmun stated that about 800,000 students and workers nationwide, on Friday alone, expressed a desire to enlist or reenlist to counter the U.S.

The claim came after North Korea launched a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Thursday, in response to ongoing U.S-South Korea military exercises.

Pyongyang fired the ICBM into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol flew to Tokyo for a summit that discussed ways to counter the nuclear-armed North.

The North's ballistic missiles are banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions and the launch drew condemnation from governments in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.

South Korean and American forces began 11 days of joint drills, dubbed "Freedom Shield 23," Monday, being held on a scale not seen since 2017 to counter North Korea's growing threats.

The North's leader Kim Jong-un accused the United States and South Korea of increasing tensions with the military exercises. (Reuters)