Can North Korean Soldiers Be Saved? Defectors Launch Psychological Operation to Bring Freedom

A group of North Korean defectors with military backgrounds has created propaganda

materials targeting North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia and handed them over to Ukrainian officials.

On Monday, the Defectors’ Propaganda Group announced their provision to the Ukrainian Embassy in South Korea with Escape Guidance, broadcast propaganda materials, and an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. These materials were produced by former North Korean military personnel who have defected and mothers of defectors who had sent their children to serve in the North Korean military.

The group’s leader, Jang Se Yul, who departed for Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday, plans to meet with Ukrainian military officials to deliver similar materials and the open letter.

In their letter to Zelenskyy, the group stressed that the North Korean soldiers now facing Ukrainian forces are young men coerced into serving out of forced loyalty. They suggested that psychological operations targeting these soldiers could encourage mass surrenders and defections.

The group expressed hope that their heartfelt psychological warfare content would help secure freedom for the deployed North Korean soldiers.