Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was accused North Korea of selling medium range missiles to Syria and Iran.
Rabin, who made the accusation Thursday while on a visit to South Korea, also said North Korea was developing, with the financial backing of Iran, a long- range missile capable of hitting targets 800 miles away.
A missile with this range, Rabin pointed out, could be fired from Iran at Jerusalem.
Speaking at a joint news conference after holding talks with South Korean President Kim Young-sam, Rabin also said that North Korea is supplying Iran and Syria with technology that could be used to build missile launching systems.
Rabin told reporters that he had urged South Korea and the United States to use their influence to stop North Korea from selling arms in the Middle East.
Rabin also said that he and the South Korean leader had discussed areas of cooperation between the two countries, including economic issues and security.
“We focused on many issues on the civilian side, but we mentioned also the possibility of future cooperation in the defense area,” he said.
During Rabin’s stay in Seoul, Israel and South Korea signed agreements on establishing direct Tel Aviv-Seoul air links, cultural exchanges and cooperative ventures in agricultural technology.
Israel Radio reported that Rabin canceled a planned visit to the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea in order to hold another session of talks with President Kim.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
