Korea-Israel ties intact despite stir over president's message: FM

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun speaks during an interpellation session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

The relations between Korea and Israel remain intact, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said, Wednesday, in response to diplomatic concerns over President Lee Jae Myung’s social media post that Israel perceived as trivializing the Holocaust.

“We have closely communicated with the Israeli side, which has understood our position. No further statements from Israel have followed (concerning the president’s message),” Cho said during an interpellation session at the National Assembly in Seoul.

Citing a report from Korean Ambassador to Israel Park In-ho, the foreign minister also said that a high-ranking Israeli official “expressed gratitude for the explanation provided by the Korean side” during a meeting attended by Park.

The foreign minister's remarks followed a controversy which started on Friday when the president shared a social media post with a video appearing to show Israeli soldiers abusing a young Palestinian.

Lee compared the act to the Holocaust, as well as Japan's wartime sex slavery of Korean women, in an implicit reference to Israel’s alleged violations of human rights and international law.

The post led to strong condemnation from Israel’s foreign ministry the next day on its own social media, saying Lee's post trivialized the Holocaust.

This was followed by another post from Lee refuting Israel’s criticism.

Seoul’s foreign ministry then weighed in via an official statement, saying that Israel had misunderstood the president’s intent, which was to address universal human rights, while expressing sympathy for Holocaust victims.

When asked whether Israel’s criticism went against international norms and whether Seoul’s response was too passive, the foreign minister explained that, in addition to the official statement, the two sides “communicated and managed the situation so that the Israeli government would not further address the issue through social media.”

The interpellation session also dealt with 26 stranded ships linked to Korea in the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, which began in late February.

While Iran had effectively controlled the strait, through which 70 percent of Korea’s imported crude oil passes, the U.S. said Monday that they are blockading the area.

Responding to reports that the government shared information on the ships with Iran, Cho said, “‘We did not provide the information only to the Iranian side, but also to all nearby GCC countries, as well as the U.S, requesting their assistance in ensuring safety.’”

GCC is an acronym for Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic union of six countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.