(EDITORIAL from Korea Times on Oct. 28)

Soldiers who are believed to be North Koreans are in line to get military outfits in Russia's Sergievsky Training Ground, in this captured image from the Ukrainian military's social media account. Soldiers who are believed to be North Koreans are in line to get military outfits in Russia's Sergievsky Training Ground, in this captured image from the Ukrainian military's social media account. Sending lethal weapons to Ukraine should be last resort Ukraine kicked off a psychological operation broadcasting in Korean to encourage North Korean troops to surrender, sharing footage of meals served to prisoners of war in its Telegram channel, titled "I Want to Live." It promises that POWs get warm meals containing beef and fresh vegetables three times a day as well as proper medical services. Cognitive warfare, which is closely connected with psychological warfare, is a critical part of modern war. Through various information means, it aims to change a target population's way of thinking to influence their actions . To succeed, cognitive operations should deliver effective messages that can influence the target group. Ukraine's cognitive operations targeting North Korean soldiers is timely. However, in terms of efficacy, the current campaign, which posits that hungry North Korean soldiers would surrender if meals are served, seems to be out of focus. In the impoverished North, many residents are starving due to chronic crop shortages and layered sanctions imposed by the international community. But the North Korean troops sent to Russia are in a somewhat different situation. They are special forces who were relatively well fed and treated differently in the North. According to a North Korea expert, the average height of male North Korean soldiers is 162 centimeters because of malnutrition. But those who were selected to serve in the special forces are taller than the average soldiers with better physical and nutrient conditions. Hyun In-ae, a North Korean defector who now teaches at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said meat-based warm meals with fresh vegetables seem to be ineffective components of the psywar campaign because the North Koreans will already have been served such food in Russia. She advised that Ukraine should instead develop a tailor-made message focusing on the human psyche. "They were sent to war and their lives are on the line, so it will be better if Ukraine focuses on those soldiers' desperateness for life," she said. To encourage the North Koreans to surrender, she said a message of hope for life or starting a new life in a free country like South Korea will be way more effective. Her remark hints that there is room for cooperation between South Korea and Ukraine in the cognitive warfare on North Korean soldiers. South Korea has developed its own knowhow about how to influence North Korean soldiers, while dealing with the North for over seven decades since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. There is a lot South Korea can offer Ukraine regarding its psychological operations. The North Korean so ldiers deployed to assist Russia are said to be relatively young, with many of them being in their teens or early 20s. These young soldiers are forced to risk their lives in Russia's war against Ukraine because of dictator Kim Jong-un's self-serving decision to earn cash and the possible transfer of Russia's sensitive technology. Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said that the North Korean soldiers will likely end up becoming cannon fodder. He made the remark on the heels of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's social media post in which he said the first group of North Korean soldiers were expected to be deployed in combat zones as early as Sunday. They had already been deployed in the Russian border region of Kursk. There is no life that deserves death. This is particularly so for soldiers who were forced to fight. President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday that South Korea may mull sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, while the government will monitor closely the developments of Russia-North Korea milita ry cooperation. Sending weapons to Ukraine should be the last resort. South Korea should keep trying to persuade the North Korean soldiers to flee their positions and surrender. It should accept the North Koreans who express their intention to defect to the South, so as to let them have a second chance at life in a free country. Source: Yonhap News Agency