Four Reasons Why South Korea and North Korea Are Attentioning After Israel Crisis in Israel

The South Korean military has given an objective assessment of the surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian armed group, Hamas.

On the 10th, Kang Shin-cheol, Chief of Operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared at the National Defense Committee’s national audit and said, “We consider Hamas’ surprise attack to have been successful.”

Chief Kang said, “Hamas initiated a large-scale attack through a surprise operation, using thousands of rockets and high-speed landing ships for ground, sea, and air infiltration. There were battles in at least 21 areas. The effect of Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defense was minimal due to the rocket attacks in a short period of time. The asymmetrical attack forms that the enemy can utilize in terms of time, means, and methods have been identified, and a response is needed.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff explained that from a temporal aspect, attacks were carried out taking advantage of the early hours of Jewish holidays such as Sabbath and memorial days. As for the means, traditional forces such as small infiltration/raid teams, rocket launchers, trucks, and powered paragliders were used.

The South Korean military also said that it will prepare possible countermeasures in case North Korea mimics these surprise attack methods.

The military authorities pointed out that Israel’s Iron Dome and the scientific border system operating along the border were neutralized, suggesting the need to be wary of excessive dependence on these systems.

North Korea currently has over 340 long-range artillery pieces, including 170mm self-propelled guns and 240mm multiple rocket launchers, which surpass the performance of the rockets possessed by Hamas, aimed at the capital area.

There are criticisms both inside and outside the military that if North Korea operates these weapon systems to their maximum, it can pour out about 16,000 rounds per hour, and even if the ‘Korean version of the Iron Dome’, the Long-Range Artillery Interception System (LAMD), is deployed in 2026, damage is inevitable.

This is why there are calls for the need to expand and inspect protective facilities in civilian areas while increasing the development and deployment of the Korean-style interception system.

Chief Kang said, “The biggest problem was that Mossad (the Israeli intelligence agency) could not predict the surprise attack”, and “We need to analyze the vulnerabilities in the South Korea-US North Korea information surveillance system and check the early warning system and information sharing system.”

In response, the military authorities said, “We are conducting overlapping surveillance for signs of North Korean provocation through the integrated operation of South Korea-US joint North Korea information, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets” and “We will remove the enemy’s long-range artillery early through the execution of firepower.”

There is also a need to be wary of the possibility that North Korea could infiltrate the rear with irregular special forces such as gliders, like Hamas, in addition to regular warfare on the front lines.

Chief Kang said, “We will increase the operation of detection and identification assets and operate ground and air defense forces in an integrated manner to implement ‘detection-identification-strike’.”

The military authorities also saw the need to prepare for North Korea’s psychological warfare through SNS. They noted that Hamas maximized the fear of Israeli citizens by releasing videos of hostage captures and the like.

It is highly likely that North Korea will also spread fake news on SNS, such as the assassination of high-ranking government officials, the retreat of the national army, and the withdrawal of US forces in Korea, while launching surprise attacks in a similar situation.

Chief Kang said, “We will integrate the efforts of government agencies and related organizations to secure dominance in the cognitive domain” and “We will strengthen the performance of integrated information operations in conjunction with martial law during wartime.”