In the interview, Liberman stated that Kim Jong-un was “undermining international stability” 

and “leading a radical and insane society.”

Liberman: Crucial to place more pressure and sanctions on Iran
Liberman: Ties between Israel, Arab states ‘more crucial for them than us’

“The reckless remarks of the Israeli defense minister are sordid and wicked behavior and 

grave challenge to the DPRK [North Korea],” the North Korean statement read.

The statement also claimed that Israel, while working with the US, was the Middle East’s 

only illegal owner of nuclear weapons.

“This is the cynical ploy to escape the world denunciation and curse as disturber of peace 

in the Middle East, occupier of the Arab territories and culprit of crimes against humanity,”

 the spokesman said.

The access to nuclear power is a “righteous right for self-defense to cope with the US 

provocative moves for aggression,” the statement read.

The statement threatened Israel and anyone who “dares hurt the dignity of its supreme 

leadership,” with “merciless, thousand-fold punishment.”

The statement ended with a warning to Israel to “think twice about the consequences to 

be entailed by its smear campaign against the DPRK [North Korea] to cover up the crimes 

of occupying Arab territories and disturbing peace process in the Middle East.”

Last Tuesday a senior IDF officer told reporters at a special briefing that ongoing tension 

between North Korea and the US could impact Israel’s security.

The officer referred to the developing diplomatic rift between the US and the peninsula 

following North Korea’s recent and defiant attempts to extend its nuclear activity, despite 

repeated warnings from the West.

He explained that Israel could bear the brunt of such an escalation in the relations between 

Washington and Pyongyang should it occur, because the US would have to divert security 

resources from the Middle East to Korea.

Joy Bernard contributed to this article.