North Korea has armed militia of 900,000: report
Staff Reporter 2013-04-10 13:52
South Korean soldiers in the DMZ that marks the border with the North. (Photo/CFP)
The Korean peninsula is inching closer to war as the Kim Jong-un regime in North Korea has armed a militia of 900,000 men, according to Huanqiu, the Chinese-language website of the nationalistic tabloid Global Times.
A day after Russian president Vladimir Putin warned that a nuclear war initiated by North Korea will make the Chernobyl disaster seem like a fairy tale, sources claim that Pyongyang has issued weapons and ammunition to a civilian army of 900,000 people — either in preparation for war or more likely as another scare tactic designed to grab headlines.
Tensions remain high after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Feb. 12 to protest joint military drills between Seoul and Washington. South Korean defense minister Kim Kwan-jin said last week that Pyongyang has deployed intermediate-range missiles to its east coast, and there is a possibility they could be fired on or before April 15, when the country will celebrate the birthday of its founder Kim Il-sung.
Pyongyang advised foreign embassies to evacuate their staff last Friday, saying their safety could be at risk in the event of a conflict from April 10.
Many international commentators believe North Korea will do something to demonstrate it has not backed down from its latest bellicose threats. Some analysts say this could come in the form of firing a missile into the Sea of Japan, but the North will want to avoid a miscalculation that could bring a devastating retaliation.
In response to North Korea's missile threat, the Japan Self-Defense Forces on Tuesday deployed its PAC-3 missile defense system to three locations across the country, according to Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary and minister in charge of strengthening national security.
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, also reassured the nation's citizens that they would be protected and that the country's armed forces are taking full precautions to ensure the safety of civilians in the event of an attack.
China's president, Xi Jinping, issued an indirect caution to North Korea this weekend when he said that no nation should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain.
