Since the October 7th massacre, the IDF has found large quantities of weapons made in North Korea used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A recent study by the Stimson Center, a US think tank, revealed that the alliance between North Korea and Palestinian terrorist organizations, along with other enemies of Israel, including Hezbollah and Syria, was established many years ago.

North Korea’s relationship with Palestinian terror groups stems back to the 1970s and was initiated by PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Arafat received weapons shipment from then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and North Korean intelligence officers provided training to Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) commander George Habash and directed the PFLP-Japanese Red Army terror attack on the Lod Airport in 1972.

The ties between the hermit kingdom and Palestinian terror groups weakened after the Oslo Accords but were revived after Hamas nabbed control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Hamas sought military aid from North Korea and was provided with a six-figure sum for rockets and other military equipment in a secret transaction carried out through a third-party company in Lebanon. It wasn’t the first time that North Korea provided rockets and weapons to Hamas and other terror organizations. In 2009, planes filled with North Korean rocket launchers, grenades, and missiles were seized in Thailand and the UAE.

North Korea also has a long history of ties with the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon. In the 1980s, Hezbollah terrorists traveled to North Korea for training. In the 2000s, North Korean officials traveled to Lebanon to train Hezbollah operatives in constructing underground bunkers and tunnels, enabling it to construct its extensive tunnel network in southern Lebanon that reaches the Israeli border.

North Korea has also provided Katyusha and Grad rockets to Hezbollah through third-party companies in Syria and Lebanon from Iran.

The hermit kingdom’s evil allies include Syria as well, In 2007, Israel struck Syria’s nuclear reactor that was established with North Korean assistance and staffed with North Korean scientists.

The Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7th set off warning bells for South Korea, raising concerns about a similar North Korean incursion into its territory.

The JoongAng, one of South Korea’s largest newspapers, published a recent editorial warning the country’s leaders to glean a lesson from Israel’s failure to prevent the Hamas attack.

“Israel’s situation, surrounded by enemies and terrorist organizations, mirrors the current security state of South Korea,” the article states. “Even the Mossad failed to detect the signs of the attack. The government must thoroughly prepare for the possibility of military provocations by North Korea.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)