North Korea Allegedly Supplies Weapons to Hamas

A photo released by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea, stating that they agree with foreign media reports that Hamas is using North Korean weapons. Photo=NIS·Yonhap News

The White House in the U.S. stated on the 10th (local time) that there are no signs of military cooperation between North Korea and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. This is a different assessment from the National Intelligence Service of South Korea which had claimed cooperation between the two parties by releasing photos.

John Kirby, the Strategic Communications Coordinator for the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House responded to the suspicion that North Korea is providing weapons to Hamas during a briefing on the same day, saying, “We are not aware of any signs of military cooperation between Hamas and North Korea.”

However, the NIS in South Korea previously stated on the 8th that they agree with the Voice of America (VOA) broadcast report that parts of the warhead (explosive device) of the F-7 rocket used by Hamas seem to be made in North Korea.

The NIS also stated that they are “collecting and accumulating concrete evidence on the scale and timing of North Korea’s provision of weapons to organizations like Hamas.”

Although both parties did not make completely conflicting statements, a ‘temperature difference’ was detected in the information judgment about suspicions of military trade between North Korea and Hamas.

According to a Yonhap News report, a U.S. government official stated about the gap in information judgment between South Korea and the U.S., “We know historically, and from recently disclosed areas, that North Korean weapons have been used by Hamas.”

However, the official also confirmed that “As Coordinator Kirby said in today’s briefing, we have not seen signs of military cooperation between North Korea and Hamas.”

Ultimately, the U.S. seems to interpret that they are aware of the evidence of ‘Hamas’s use of North Korean weapons,’ but that evidence does not directly mean ‘military cooperation between North Korea and Hamas.’

It may be possible that Hamas did not directly ‘order’ from North Korea and receive weapons directly, but North Korean weapons could have flowed into Hamas through intermediaries such as individuals or organizations in third countries.

Furthermore, it may be the U.S.’s position that they have not detected any circumstances of military cooperation between North Korea and Hamas before and after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October last year.

From the positions of Coordinator Kirby and another U.S. official, a cautious attitude is seen, where they base their statements on proven facts about the highly sensitive issue of North Korea.