"Why Now?"...Israel Retaliation, Expert Analysis Intent [Y Record]

■ Host: Anchor Lee Hyun-woong, Anchor Cho Ye-jin
■ Starring: Park Won-gon, Professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN Newswide] when quoting.

◆ Anchor: You said that there are sharp interests intertwined, but what do you predict from the timing of this (Israeli) attack on Iran?

◇ Park Won-gon: I'm also cautious about this. If you look at the basic position of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the trend so far, it seems that he wants to make an all-out war that Israel can do before and after the US presidential election anyway. There's been a lot of pushing. As we saw, Hezbollah in Lebanon continued to attack and continue to escalate. The Biden administration continued to prevent escalation and requested a ceasefire, especially on the Gaza War, but Netanyahu is refusing to do so. If so, it would be correct to say that the U.S. presidential election was considered. In particular, Harris is likely to maintain the existing policy, but Trump is considered to have a very complex option.

Netanyahu and Trump have a good relationship with each other. But Trump fully supports Israel. But that doesn't mean Trump wants war in the Middle East. One of the things he says on Trump's campaign trail is that if he is elected, he will also solve the Middle East problem. I won't go to war anymore. So Trump has the potential to prevent war because he's a person who thinks it's bad for the U.S. economy because he brings inflation. Then, from Netanyahu's point of view, we believe that he intends to maximize this offensive and then take the lead in an environment that will change after the U.S. presidential election and take the negotiations to an advantageous phase.

Excerpted from
: Jeong Eui-jin, Editor of the Digital News Team