Warning in South Korea. Will they learn from Israel's mistakes?

South Korean experts suggest that the unexpected attack by Hamas on Israel has shown that "a country relying on modern military technology may have trouble defending itself against sudden strikes". According to them, the government in Seoul should make changes to the strategy of deterring Pyongyang.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won Sik announced that he will aim to suspend the agreement with North Korea from 2018 about reducing military tensions.

It assumes a no-fly zone for drones at the border and significantly limits the ability to detect signs of possible provocation.

Shin assessed that a recent Hamas attack would have caused less damage if Israel had conducted round-the-clock surveillance using drones - reported by Yonhap agency.

Hamas has launched thousands of rockets and employed guerrilla warfare tactics, sending in hundreds of armed fighters who infiltrated Israel by land, sea, and air. "The unprecedented scale of attacks, which surprised Israeli security forces, raised fears of a similar assault by North Korea on South Korea," writes the newspaper "Korea Times".

Both Korean states remain formally at war. Over 61 percent of South Korean residents believe that North Korea has "hostile intentions", and one in six fears that it could attack their country at any time - according to this year's survey described on Tuesday by the newspaper "Chosun Ilbo".

"The Hamas attack showed that a country heavily reliant on advanced military equipment may not be able to defend itself against a sudden attack" - assessed analyst Jang Uk from the Asan Institute for Political Studies, paying attention to the imperfection of the Iron Dome, considered one of the best anti-aircraft defense systems in the world.

Although the Iron Dome is known for intercepting 90 percent of incoming missiles, it was overwhelmed by a barrage of projectiles fired by Hamas, and some of them managed to get through, leading to civilian casualties and infrastructure damage - emphasizes "Korea Times".

Jang recalled that South Korea was interested in purchasing the Iron Dome from Israel, but ultimately decided to develop its own system, which is expected to be better adapted to defend against the more powerful artillery missiles of North Korea.

An analyst from the Korean Defense and Security Forum think tank, Shin Jong Woo, emphasized the need to strengthen intelligence capabilities. "It seems that Israeli intelligence services did not detect any signs that Hamas was preparing for coordinated attacks from land, air, and sea, which of course have been planned for a long time," he pointed out.