Ukraine offers food incentives to encourage N. Korean soldier defections

[Anchor]

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has released a video on social media encouraging North Korean troops to surrender.

They announced in Korean that if North Korean soldiers surrender, they will provide three meals a day with meat.

Jo Bit-na reports.

[Report]

A building with flowers blooming everywhere.

This is a Ukrainian prisoner of war camp.

In a sunlit room, bedding is neatly arranged.

[Ukrainian military 'Surrender Hotline' video: "To accommodate newly arrived war prisoners from the DPRK...."]

In the kitchen, rice and meat are being prepared.

[Ukrainian military 'Surrender Hotline' video: "The war prisoners in the camp receive three meals a day, including meat, fresh vegetables, and bread."]

This video was produced in Korean and released on Oct. 23 local time by the 'Surrender Hotline' operated by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Intelligence Agency.

It says, "There is no need to die meaninglessly on foreign soil," and "If you surrender, Ukraine will protect you," encouraging the North Korean soldiers to surrender.

Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that 18 North Korean soldiers training in Russia's Kursk region deserted due to a lack of food supplies.

It has been reported that South Korea's National Intelligence Service estimates the cost of deploying North Korean soldiers to be around $2,000 per person per month, equivalent to 2.75 million won.

However, like North Korea's overseas dispatched workers, there are concerns that the deployed soldiers may also hand over most of their earnings to the regime.

As the war drags on, there have also been cases of desertion and surrender within the Russian military.

[Russian military deserter / last July: "It was shocking. I didn't understand what was happening. We crossed the Ukrainian border."]

Considering this, the Ukrainian military seems to have quickly produced videos targeting the North Korean military.

This is Jo Bit-na from KBS News in Berlin.