Foreign Ministry Expresses Regret Over Israeli Objection: "President Lee's Remarks Misunderstood"

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed regret on April 11 regarding the Israeli Foreign Ministry's objection to President Lee Jaemyung's remarks criticizing Israel, stating that "the intent of the remarks was misunderstood."

On this day, the Ministry posted on X (formerly Twitter), "We regret that the Israeli Foreign Ministry misunderstood the intention of the President's post, which expressed a belief in universal human rights rather than an opinion on a specific issue, and responded critically."

The Ministry further explained, "Our government has consistently maintained its position of firmly opposing all forms of violence and anti-human rights acts, including the terrorism pointed out by Israel, and that international humanitarian law and human rights must be observed without exception." It continued, "We always share in the indescribable pain that Israel has suffered due to the Holocaust," adding, "Once again, we express our deepest condolences to the victims of the Holocaust."

Earlier that day, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X, "President Lee made remarks that downplay the Jewish genocide ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day," adding, "This is unacceptable and deserves strong condemnation." The Ministry also claimed that the case cited by President Lee "distorted a 2024 incident as if it were a current event," and that "the content originated from an account that has previously spread anti-Israel disinformation."

The previous day, President Lee had shared on his X account a video of armed soldiers dropping a person from a building. The footage is known to have been filmed in the Gaza Strip in 2024. The person who posted the video claimed that the soldiers were members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and that the person being dropped was a Palestinian child. In response, President Lee commented, "We need to find out if this is true, and if so, what actions were taken," criticizing, "There is no difference between the forced mobilization of comfort women, the Holocaust, or killings during war that we take issue with."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.