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North Korea supplying weapons to Hamas, South Korea confirms

South Korea’s military has said that Hamas and North Korea appear to be linked in the global arms trade.

By Troy O. Fritzhand, The Algeminer

Hamas terrorists have been using weapons made in North Korea in their war on Israel, South Korea’s spy agency confirmed on Monday.

The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) released a photo showing a disassembled F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher manufactured in North Korea.

“The fuse with the Korean characters is located in the mid-section of the North Korean-made F-7 rocket,” the agency told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, adding that it was “collecting and accumulating” evidence of North Korea’s suspected supply of weapons to Hamas.

“But it is currently difficult to provide such evidence due to the need to protect information sources and in consideration of diplomatic ties,” the agency added.

The news came after Voice of America (VOA) reported last week that Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, was using North Korean weapons. In addition to the F-7 grenade launcher, Hamas propaganda videos and photos have reportedly shown its terrorists with North Korea’s Bulsae guided anti-tank missile.

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The VOA report detailed a looming lawsuit brought by families of Americans killed by Hamas terrorists during their rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7 — when they killed 1,200 people (including at least 31 Americans) and kidnapped 240 others as hostages — against the North Korean regime for allegedly supplying Hamas with weapons.

The attorney for the group, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, told VOA that North Korea “knows its weapons go to Iran, and Iran gives the weapons to Hamas,” making North Korea “liable.” Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, providing the terror group with arms, funds, and training.

Darshan-Leitner pointed to mounting evidence, including rocket launchers discovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), that use parts from North Korea.

Asked about the report, the NIS said its “assessment is the same as the VOA report.”

Early in the Israel-Hamas war, which began with the Oct. 7 massacre, Akiva Tor, who serves as the Israeli ambassador to South Korea, charged that Hamas was using North Korean weapons. “In Gaza, as it is the one which attacks us, they use North Korean weapons. It could be that these North Korean weapons have been in Iran for quite a long time,” Tor said.

Pyongyang, which voiced support for Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, pushed back on these claims, saying they are “groundless and false rumors to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by its wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country.”

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However, South Korea’s military has said that Hamas and North Korea appear to be linked in the global arms trade and that the latter could use military tactics similar to those used against Israel on Oct. 7 for a surprise attack on South Korea.

Yonhap also noted that the NIS reported during a parliamentary intelligence committee meeting in November that it obtained intelligence that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered officials to come up with measures to provide comprehensive assistance to the Palestinians.

North Korea has maintained diplomatic relations with Palestinian leaders since the 1960s.

Hamas is not the only foreign entity said to receive North Korean arms. US officials have said, for example that Russia is using weapons from North Korea in its war against Ukraine.