Alarmed at news that North Korea was selling medium and long-range missiles to Syria and Iran, Israel sought to enter into direct contact with the government of North Korea. A senior Israeli diplomat was dispatched to Pyongyang for talks on this issue. The United States, seeking to isolate North Korea because of its growing nuclear activities and refusal to place its nuclear facilities under international supervision, expressed reservations over the Israeli move. This led to a decision taken by the prime minister and the foreign minister to suspend contacts with North Korea and seek American involvement in halting the sale of North Korean weapons to the Middle East. The announcement was made by the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
In light of recent developments regarding the supply of weapons to the region from North Korea, and against the backdrop of coordination actions between the United States and Israel on this matter:
Israel will inform Washington that it expects the United States to continue leading the efforts toward halting the provision of missiles to our region by North Korea - and that [Washington] will even intensify these efforts. The contacts with North Korea will be suspended at this phase, in order to enable the United States to act in this regard.
Israel will continue to take all measures which appear efficient with respect to the preservation of its security, and we will continue to monitor developments.