Yonhap News:
A top Israeli envoy said Thursday the missile defense systems developed by the Middle Eastern country will help counter North Korea’s growing missile provocations.
Citing the Iron Dome missile defense battery as one of the most innovative of Israel’s military systems, Israeli Ambassador to South Korea Chaim Choshen boasted of its anti-missile capabilities and its proven track record of intercepting incoming missiles.
“We are two small states which have very similar strategic situations. Korea is threatened by North Korea and Israel is threatened by Iran. We have good cooperation in defense and security,” the ambassador said in a forum arranged by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) in Seoul.
“I am sure this cooperation (between Seoul and Jerusalem) is still very far from being exhausted and I hope so much this potential will be used in the future … particularly in defense area. We may suggest some solutions to counter North Korean threats here.”
Throughout the forum, the ambassador pitched the highlights of Israel’s advanced technologies and proven track record in air defense armaments.
The Iron Dome system “enabled the government of Israel to be more flexible in managing the battle field. Israel is developing today a broad range of missile defense systems with an aim of protecting the country from any type of missile attacks,” said the ambassador who assumed his present post in August.
“We need to always win our wars. We have only one chance. If we lose even one war, this is the end of the state of Israel.”
Seoul has been under escalating military threat posed by Pyongyang in the past decade. This year alone, the communist state conducted two nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches.
To help protect South Koreans and 28,500 American troops here from missile attacks, Seoul and Washington agreed in July to deploy an advanced anti-missile system, known as THAAD, in South Korea by 2017….
