“Imagine that North Korea invaded South Korea, just like Hamas”

“Imagine if North Korea suddenly invaded South Korea, slaughtered civilians, and fired rockets,” said Ted Deutch (photo), chair of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), whom your reporter met at a hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Jan 2, as he described the invasion of Israel by the Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7 last year.

“Wouldn’t Koreans demand the government to take strong action? The Gaza war is a response taken by Israel to defend itself against attacks by a terrorist group (Hamas) whose goal is to exterminate Jews,” he said.

Chairman Deutch, who served as a U.S. House of Representatives member for 12 years, took office in 2022 as the head of the AJC, an American Jewish rights advocacy group founded in 1906. “One thing that North Korea and Hamas have in common is that they receive support from Iran. AJC has been at the forefront of highlighting North Korea’s human rights violations at the United Nations,” he explained.

In response to public criticism of Israel's hard-lined response and war lasting for the longer term, he replied that “I don't think that the overwhelming majority of Americans support the president and the administration's position on Israel,” but added, "the destruction of Hamas will lead to peace in the Middle East and benefit to the Biden administration (in the upcoming presidential election).”

Regarding the ‘two-state solution’ being discussed by the international community, he commented that “we need efforts to ensure that threats to Israel are prevented.”


Jeong-Soo Hong hong@donga.com