The Foreign Ministry of North Korea issued an enraged statement on Thursday in defense of its allies in Iran, declaring Israel a “cancer-like entity… destroying global peace and security” for its recent military operation hindering illicit nuclear development in neighboring Iran.
While far from a relevant actor in the current Middle East conflict, North Korea asserted that Iran has a “legitimate sovereign right and exercise of the right to self-defense,” apparently in reference to its prodigious uranium enrichment and insistence on nuclear activities condemned by the United States. Pyongyang emphasized its “serious concern” over the ongoing conflict, though it did not specify that it would take any action regarding the situation.
The government of Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion,” a military mission into Iran targeting some of its most powerful military leaders and pivotal nuclear facilities, on June 13 in response to intelligence suggesting that Tehran possessed enough fissile material to build multiple atomic bombs. Hours before the operation began, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution condemning Iran for violating international legal standards of nuclear development by engaging in far more uranium enrichment than necessary for civilian use and reportedly attempting to hide enrichment activities from the United Nations.
The Iranian government engaged in five rounds of talks with the United States this year in pursuit of an agreement that would limit its nuclear development in exchange for sanctions relief. The talks did not result in any meaningful progress as Iranian negotiators refused to accept any limits on uranium enrichment.
The Israeli attacks resulted in the elimination of some of the most prominent military leaders in Iran, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, as well as several nuclear scientists. Iran has responded with missile barrages targeting Israeli civilians that have resulted in the loss of no soldiers but the deaths of at least 24 people at press time.
The North Korean regime statement did not address the targeting of civilians by its ally. Instead, it accused Israel of “state-sponsored terrorism” for defending itself from a potential nuclear attack.
“The daily-escalating Israel’s reckless military attack on civilians in wanton violation of international law and the basic principle of the U.N. Charter is a hideous act of aggression,” the statement railed, “wantonly violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a sovereign state and an unpardonable crime against humanity.”
“The present grave situation witnessed by the world clearly proves that Israel, supported and patronized by the U.S. and the West, is a cancer-like entity for the peace in the Middle East and a chief culprit of destroying global peace and security,” it continued.
“The Zionists who brought a new war to the Middle East and the behind-the-scene forces who zealously patronize and support them will be held totally responsible for destroying international peace and security,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry ominously concluded.
North Korea and Iran have long maintained friendly ties, though Pyongyang has put more effort into elevating ties with Iranian allies closer to home, such as Russia and China. North Korea sent an economic delegation to Iran in April 2024, one of the most recent displays of bilateral interaction in recent memory.
The North Korean regime has also expressed support for Iran’s network of global terrorism, particularly in the aftermath of the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials revealed following the massacre, which killed an estimated 1,200 people, Hamas terrorists had used weapons apparently originating in North Korea during the attack. Hamas victims filed a lawsuit in July 2024 against both Iran and North Korea arguing that the countries offered financing and other support in anticipation of the October 7 attack.
North Korea and Iran also share a passion for undermining, if not entirely disregarding, international law regarding nuclear development. North Korea has been isolated from nearly every international financial system and faces unprecedented international sanctions in response to its illicit nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang has tested six known nuclear weapons at press time, all from 2006 to 2017. In May, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a report finding that North Korea possesses enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads. As a result of the lack of a peace treaty or surrender in the Korean War that began in 1950, North Korea remains technically in a state of war against both South Korea and its key ally, the United States, at press time.
Prior to its condemnation of Iran, the IAEA identified North Korea as a nation of particular concern.
“I mean, you cannot have a country like this, which is completely off the charts with this nuclear arsenal,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned in April. “With such a big program, nuclear program, with all these facilities, without us having any clue of any safety or security measure which is being applied to it.”
North Korea has not allowed IAEA inspectors into the country since 2009.
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