White House official not aware of any indications about NK

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, speaks during a press briefing at the Foreign Press Center in Washington in this captured Aug. 16, 2023 file photo. Yonhap

A White House official said Wednesday that he has not seen any indication of military cooperation between North Korea and the Hamas militant group, despite the South Korean spy agency's assessment that North Korean-made arms are being used by the group.

John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, made the remarks after Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed last week's Voice of America (VOA) report that Hamas fighters have used an F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher manufactured in the North.

"I haven't seen any indications," Kirby told a press briefing. "I am not aware of any indications that there's been some sort of cooperation militarily between Hamas and North Korea."

On Monday, the NIS released a photo of a North Korean rocket part to confirm the VOA report.

Kirby's remarks raised questions over whether there is any discrepancy in intelligence analysis between Seoul and Washington regarding the potential military ties between the North and Hamas.

Asked to elaborate on the issue, a U.S. official noted that the United States is aware of "public domain" evidence but repeated Kirby's statement.

"We are aware of a body of evidence in the public domain — both historical and recent — that DPRK weaponry has been used by Hamas," the official said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency via email. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"As John Kirby stated at the briefing today, we have not seen indications of military cooperation between the DPRK and Hamas," the official added.

During the briefing, Kirby also commented on military cooperation between the North and Russia, saying the United States is watching the relationship "very closely."

"We have talked a long time about the relationship between Russia and the DPRK and the way that Russia finds ways to evade sanctions and to continue to do business with North Korea," he said.

He noted that cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow will have military benefits for both countries.

"I won't speculate about the degree to which we're seeing tangible evidence that North Korea is somehow benefiting militarily from this," he said. "We do know without question because I've said many times that certainly, Russia is benefiting militarily by the purchase of North Korean ballistic missiles."

Kirby revealed that Pyongyang had provided Moscow with several dozen missiles, some of which were used to strike Ukrainian targets on Dec. 30, 2023, Jan. 2 and Saturday. (Yonhap)