Israeli envoy says Iran strikes meant to halt North Korea-style nuclear breakout
Published: 05 Mar. 2026, 17:40
Updated: 05 Mar. 2026, 19:07
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- MICHAEL LEE
- [email protected]
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![Israeli Ambassador to South Korea Rafael Harpaz speaks during a press conference on Israel’s ongoing military operation against Iran in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 5. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/05/e7d4bcf2-1599-4acc-8364-6d4ab1110503.jpg)
Israeli Ambassador to South Korea Rafael Harpaz speaks during a press conference on Israel’s ongoing military operation against Iran in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 5. [YONHAP]
Israeli Ambassador to Seoul Rafael Harpaz said Thursday that Israel’s airstrikes on Iran were driven in part by “lessons” drawn from the failure of the United States and South Korea to stop North Korea's nuclear program in the 1990s.
Speaking to reporters in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Harpaz said the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military operation — which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday — was intended to prevent Tehran from reaching the kind of nuclear breakout point that Pyongyang passed decades ago.
“We learned the lessons from what happened here between 1994 and 1996, which is approximately when North Korea’s nuclear program reached the point of no return,” he said.
Harpaz portrayed the decision by the administration of then-U.S. President Bill Clinton to pursue diplomacy with Pyongyang as a cautionary tale.
“The decision back then was not to take action,” he said. “Now, North Korea possesses 40, 50, 60 nuclear warheads.”
He added that Israel attacked Iran “exactly so that [it] won’t be in the same situation 10 years later.”
Harpaz described the operation — codenamed “Epic Fury” by the United States and “Roaring Lion” by Israel — as a joint effort by the two countries to “save the free world” from “an extreme regime that combines a radical Islamic ideology with weapons of mass destruction.”
Harpaz pointed to Iran’s missile strikes across the region in retaliation as an illustration of the security threat posed by Tehran.
“Civilian targets, such as airports and shopping malls, were attacked in Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and many more,” he said, gesturing to a map showing countries struck by Iranian missiles in recent days.
The Israeli envoy also argued that Iran is intent on crippling the global economy by attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s liquefied gas and 25 percent of seaborne oil trade pass annually.
The Israeli ambassador further argued that the attack was “preemptive” in character, saying intelligence indicated that Iran was reconstructing its nuclear and missile programs after last year’s conflict with Israel and the United States.
“Since the war last June, Iran has been trying to rebuild its nuclear program — this time by digging and building facilities deep underground so that even large American bombs cannot reach them,” he said.
He also said that Tehran had begun production of ballistic missiles on a “massive” scale so that “there would not be a single country in the world capable of stopping” a barrage.
Preemptive military action, which refers to measures undertaken to stop or thwart an imminent attack, can be considered lawful under some interpretations of international law. Critics of the U.S.-Israeli campaign, however, say the two countries launched a preventive war aimed at stopping a potential future threat, a rationale generally viewed as illegal.
![Israeli Ambassador to South Korea Rafael Harpaz answers questions from Korean reporters about Israel’s ongoing military operation against Iran in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 5. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/05/6e90c042-c80f-46fc-a940-208cfb75eae8.jpg)
Israeli Ambassador to South Korea Rafael Harpaz answers questions from Korean reporters about Israel’s ongoing military operation against Iran in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 5. [YONHAP]
During the question-and-answer session, Harpaz cited Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 60 percent — well beyond the five-percent level typically required for civilian energy production — as evidence that Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability. He also claimed that Iran would “definitely use nuclear weapons” if it successfully develops them.
When asked by the Korea JoongAng Daily whether attacking Iran could paradoxically harden North Korea’s resolve to retain its own nuclear arsenal, Harpaz insisted the focus should remain on Iran’s conduct, which he said included misleading the international community about the nature of its nuclear program.
However, Harpaz did not offer a clear benchmark for whether the conflict would end with the destruction of Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities or with the fall of its government. Like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harpaz said the campaign would not be “open-ended,” and that it would terminate when the threat posed by Iran is “no more.”
Earlier in the briefing, he had suggested a broader political objective, saying the ongoing campaign seeks “to create the conditions under which the Iranian people can take their destiny into their own hands and rid themselves of this tyranny.”
But he stopped short of explicitly endorsing an overthrow of Iran’s current political system as a goal of the U.S.-Israeli campaign.
Harpaz also sidestepped a question about Iran’s long-standing accusations that Israel itself possesses nuclear weapons.
“We will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the region,” he said, echoing Israel’s longstanding policy of nuclear ambiguity.
The ambassador repeatedly drew parallels between Iran and North Korea, which he described as “close allies.”
“[South] Korea understands better than anyone the risk posed by a neighboring country that is ruled by radical tyranny, possesses weapons of mass destruction and maintains a very aggressive posture,” he said.
He further accused Tehran and Pyongyang of engaging in clandestine nuclear cooperation, noting that North Korea helped build a nuclear reactor in Syria that Israel destroyed in a 2007 airstrike.
The ambassador also offered praise for South Korea’s efforts to protect its citizens in the region.
“We have great admiration for the efforts the Korean government has made to take care of its citizens in the Middle East,” he said. “It is a role model for how countries should take care of their citizens.”
According to Israeli authorities, about 600 South Korean nationals were believed to be in Israel when the conflict began, though only about 10 percent requested assistance to leave.
BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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