An Israeli soldier stands near armaments during an official media tour in Israel, Oct. 26. Israel's military said a portion of the weapons used by Hamas during the militant group's Oct. 7 attacks were made in North Korea. Experts told The Korea Times recently that North Korea denies its ties with the Palestinian terrorist group because it has a lot to lose by admitting them. AFP-Yonhap

Hamas calls North Korea an ally. Evidence supports the claim. Yet the North vehemently denies any ties with the Palestinian terrorist group.

Speaking to The Korea Times recently, analysts said North Korea’s denial suggests a fear of possible consequences. Admission of their arms trade with the likes of Hamas would put the regime in deeper trouble, adding new sanctions, risking Israeli retaliation and wasting a golden opportunity that may arise after the U.S. presidential election next year, they added.

“I think North Korea fears any information that would characterize it as a rogue state. That kind of information could increase sanctions against North Korea and lead to more effective interdiction of its weapons flowing to Gaza,” said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, a California-based think tank.

“I think North Korea may also fear Israeli retaliation, which may not occur immediately but could occur eventually.”

A series of coordinated attacks on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 13 united mainstream politicians in the United States behind Israel, including President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the former president and leading Republican candidate for the presidential election next year.

Biden has maintained his unwavering support for Israel despite intensifying criticism from the liberal, Palestine-sympathetic wing of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Trump, whom experts say North Korea prefers as president, has also repeatedly expressed his support for the Jewish state, calling it “one of our closest and most cherished allies.”

A car passes with its occupants waving Israeli flags and a "Trump 2024" poster as hundreds of people demonstrate in support of Israel in front of the West Los Angeles federal building in Los Angeles, Oct. 10. The Hamas assault on Israel civilians has united mainstream politicians in the U.S., including President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, former president and leading Republican candidate for next year's presidential election. EPA-Yonhap

During the election campaign season, issues regarding North Korea and Hamas are expected to emerge. Pyongyang apparently would not want to be in the same category as the anti-Jewish militant group as it would undermine its long-term diplomatic goals, experts said.

“North Korean misbehavior could become a political issue in the United States, which could hurt North Korea. Note how often North Korea has said that it is a responsible nuclear weapon state, and how much North Korea wants U.S. recognition of the North as a nuclear weapon state. Firm evidence of North Korea backing Hamas could undermine North Korea’s chances in these areas in the future,” Bennett said.

After the terrorist attack, which killed nearly 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers, authorities in Israel seized the weapons used and displayed what they found to journalists. Among them were North Korean-made F-7 rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and 122-millimeter artillery shells. But North Korea denied that connection, calling it a “groundless and false rumor” in contrast to the position of Ali Barakeh, a senior Hamas official, who said earlier this month that North Korea may intervene in the Israel-Hamas war as “part of (our) alliance,” a message to which Pyongyang did not react.

North Korean-made F-7 rocket-propelled grenades, many with a distinctive red stripe on their warhead, are seen at an Israeli military base in southern Israel, Oct. 15. AP-Yonhap

However experts said the claim about the Hamas-North Korea network is credible, given the long history of North Korea’s ties to rogue regimes in unstable regions around the world.

“North Korean small arms have turned up in several conflict areas in the past including in Sri Lanka and Africa. North Korean small arms are reliable and relatively inexpensive, and I'm sure Hamas is sensitive to price,” said Daniel Pinkston, an East Asia expert at Troy University in South Korea.

“Furthermore, its arms exports are prohibited under U.N. Security Council resolutions, so potential buyers are limited to illicit buyers such as Hamas.”

Both Bennett and Mason Richey, a professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, believe North Korean weapons passed through intermediaries such as Iran before reaching the hands of Hamas fighters. Asked about the possibility that the North did not know the end customer when it sold them to middlemen, they said it is highly unlikely.

“I have heard that North Korea has provided military weapons (such as Scud and Musudan — BM-25 — missiles) and services to many countries, including Syria and Iran. I have heard that there are even North Korean military personnel in Gaza as trainers and observers,” Bennett said. “That didn’t happen without North Korean awareness.”

Yet North Korea has no sympathy for Hamas or ordinary Palestinians. Making hard currency and disrupting the rules-based global order were the chief reasons behind its move to form — and maintain — such arms trade networks, experts said.

“Kim supports Hamas and other actors that have grievances with the West. The grievances of Russia, China, Hamas and North Korea do not perfectly overlap. However, they all seek a transformation of the world order, albeit in different ways,” Pinkston said.

“Their visions for the future are different in terms of governance and geographic boundaries, but they will cooperate in a limited transactional manner when convenient.”

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