Israeli embassy removes controversial video depicting imaginary Hamas attack in Seoul

The Israeli embassy in South Korea has taken down a video portraying a fictional scenario involving masked assailants attacking Koreans in Seoul, drawing connections to Hamas. Seoul’s foreign ministry labeled the video as “inappropriate” and requested its removal, a statement conveyed to AFP revealed on Thursday.

The now-unavailable video, originally posted on the embassy’s Facebook account on Tuesday, depicted a disturbing scene where a South Korean woman in the capital is abducted by an armed assailant on Christmas Day, forcibly separated from her young daughter, as shown in a clip by South Korean broadcaster YTN.

Accompanying the video, the Israeli embassy’s message read, “On October 7th, Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists. 1,200 men, women, and children were killed, and over 240 people were taken hostage in Gaza. Imagine if it happened to you. What would you do?”

Israel’s ambassador in Seoul, Akiva Tor, explained in a now-deleted social media post, “We have reconstructed the horrifying terrorist incident that took place on October 7th to help South Koreans in East Asia, far away from Israel, understand the current war situation.”

South Korea, technically still at war with North Korea since the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, expressed its disapproval of the video. YTN reported that the Israeli Embassy took measures to delete the video in response to the foreign ministry’s position.

The video was part of Israel’s continued efforts to address the October 7 attack by Hamas, resulting in approximately 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, and around 250 hostages taken by Palestinian militants, with 129 still in captivity, according to Israel. The conflict’s toll in Gaza, amid Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground invasion, stands at a reported 21,110 casualties, primarily women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

South Korea’s foreign ministry emphasized that while the killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians by Hamas cannot be justified, the Israeli Embassy’s production and distribution of a video drawing parallels to another country’s security situation was deemed inappropriate. The ministry stated that it has conveyed its position to the Israeli Embassy, leading to the removal of the contentious video.