Updated

North Korea said nearly 5 million citizens have offered to join or re-enlist in the Korean People’s Army following President Trump’s threats to “totally destroy” the country.

About 4.7 million devout “students and workers” – including over a million women – have “volunteered” to join the military amid looming conflict with its neighbors and the U.S., state-run Korean Central News Agency said Thursday.

The report claims North Korean citizens sought to join the army to defend “the leader and socialism” and crush “U.S. imperialists who are running amuck to ‘totally destroy’ the DPRK.”

'Empire of evils'

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In this undated image distributed on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location. (KCNA via AP)

Younger citizens wrote threatening slogans in their petitions, including “Let us blow up the U.S. empire of evils with five million nuclear bombs!" KCNA reported.

The new recruits reportedly pledged to “take the lead in the final battle against the U.S.,” and will become part of the army within six days.

Tensions have been escalating between the U.S. and North Korea since it began showcasing its progress in developing nuclear weapons -- including missile tests and the explosion of what North Korea said was a hydrogen bomb.

Trump has been attacking “Rocket Man” Kim Jong Un for weeks now, urging him to stop the threats. Trump tweeted Sept. 22 that the North Korean leader was "obviously a madman" who would be "tested like never before."

At the United Nations last week, Trump also said the regime was on a “suicide mission” and the U.S. was ready to “totally destroy” the rogue state if forced to defend itself or an ally.

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People fill the square of the main railway station to watch a televised news broadcast of the test-fire of an inter-continental ballistic rocket Hwasong-12, Aug. 30, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Associated Press)

Nothing new?

Reports out of North Korea claiming massive increases in the size of the military are nothing new, however, and often coincide with increasing tensions with other countries, the Washington Post reported.

North Korean media said earlier this year that 3.5 million people suddenly joined the army – just when the United Nations strengthened the sanctions on the country.

Experts are also skeptical of any reports of swelling military size as North Korea, a country of 25 million people, already has a disproportionately large army. The nation forces most of its citizens, including women, to undergo compulsory military service, Task and Purpose reported.

The State Department said the Hermit Kingdom’s army has 1.2 million military personnel – making it the fourth largest military in the world, just after the U.S., India, and China.