Free Choco Pies for life for North Korean soldier defector

Korea Times file

By Bahk Eun-ji

If the North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea through Panmunjum last month wants to eat Choco Pie, Orion will provide the snack free for life.

The confectionary company told The Korea Times on Tuesday that it would gladly provide its mega-hit snack to the soldier.

The soldier, surname Oh, 25, is said to have mentioned Choco Pie to the medical team at Ajou University Hospital when he woke after surgery.

Asked how he knew about the snack, he said some North Koreans got it from workers at the now-closed Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

After the news reports, Orion sent 100 boxes of Choco Pie to Ajou University Hospital.

"We heard the soldier has not recovered enough yet to eat food. In a sense, we sent Choco Pie boxes to the employees in the hospital," an Orion official said.