Bruce Bechtol on How North Korean Weapons Ended Up in Gaza

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Israeli officials examined shells and munitions that have been fired into Israel recently by Hamas, they realized that they look like they were not made in Gaza. Similarly, when IDF inspectors looked at some of the rocket launchers Israel captured near the Gaza border, they discovered units with the word Bang-122 written on them in Korean. Bang is evidently an abbreviation of the Korean phrase bangsapo, which means “multiple rocket launcher,” and 122 is thought to indicate the caliber—122 millimeters.

It turns out that North Korean arms dealers have been supplying Hamas with rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, laser-guided anti-tank missiles, and more. North Korean engineers, meanwhile, have taught Hamas how to design and build the many tunnels that underneath Gaza.

Bruce Bechtol, a political scientist at Angelo State University and a former Marine, is the author of the recent article “Hamas Is Using North Korean Weapons Against Israel” at the website 19fortyfive.com, and the book, North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa, published in 2018. Here he joins Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver to discuss how Hamas connected with North Korea, what weapons are involved, and what each side gets out of the arrangement.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Transcript

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0:00.0	When Israeli officials examine shells and munitions that have been fired into the city's villages and towns of the Jewish state by Hamas,
0:15.2	they have been coming across shells that look like they were not made in Gaza.
0:19.7	When IDF inspectors review some of the multiple
0:22.7	rocket launchers that have come into Israel's possession near the Gaza border, they've been
0:27.6	discovering units with the word Bang-122, written on them, in Korean. Bang is evidently an
0:35.4	abbreviation of the Korean phrase Bangsapo, which means multiple rocket
0:40.2	launcher, and 122 is thought to indicate the caliber, 122 millimeters.
0:45.9	What on earth are North Korean rockets doing in Gaza?
0:49.4	And if Pyongyang is supplying Hamas with rockets, what else might they be supplying
0:53.8	them with? Welcome to the
0:55.4	tick of a podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. It turns out that North Korean arms dealers
1:00.1	have indeed been supplying Hamas with rockets, along with rocket-propelled grenades, laser-guided
1:05.7	anti-tank missiles, and their involvement does not end with arms. North Korean engineers have taught Hamas how to conceptualize and design,
1:14.8	build and reinforce the tunnels that extend across the length and width of the Gaza Strip
1:20.6	in configurations and patterns that as yet are unknown outside of Hamas senior leadership.
1:26.7	This week, we learn about the role of North Korea
1:29.0	in Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. My guest is Bruce Bechtoll, former Marine, and political
1:35.4	scientist at Angelo State University. He's the author on October 24th of the article,
1:40.9	Hamas is using North Korean weapons against Israel at the website
1:44.6	1945.com and the book, North Korean military proliferation in the Middle East and Africa,
1:50.9	published in 2018. If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the Tikva
1:55.5	podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. I hope you leave us a five-star review
	...

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