A strategic game changer emerged from Israel’s on-again, off-again conflict with Hamas ― not for Egypt or even Turkey, but for seemingly faraway Korea, and military planners here are paying keen attention, said Israel’s chief diplomatic representative in Seoul.

The game changer arose when fighting re-ignited two weeks ago in eight days of cross-border Israeli missile strikes and Hamas rocket attacks, which climaxed in the early morning hours on Thursday with the dramatic announcement of an Egyptian-brokered truce.

As a result of those attacks, five Israelis and more than 150 Palestinians were killed; and as a result of the truce, crossings into the Gaza Strip will be opened to allow the free movement of people and goods.

But amid the fighting, Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense shield, which just weeks ago was largely untested, proved itself a success to the world. That was not lost on Seoul, which sees strategic applications for Iron Dome against North Korean artillery and rockets, said Israel’s top diplomat here.

“If you have a threat on your border and you see a similar conflict elsewhere where they are using a new type of detectors and rocket killers, one can deduct intelligently that such new technology could be useful,” said Israeli Ambassador to Korea Tuvia Israeli in an interview with The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul on Tuesday.

Iron Dome promises to protect South Korean civilians from short-range North Korean rockets and artillery.

“I can assure you that (the Korean military) doesn’t have anything of comparable sophistication. Iron Dome could be something Korea can use,” he said.

Israeli made his observation just days before the second anniversary of North Korea’s artillery strike on Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23, 2010, which killed two marines and two civilians.

Pyongyang claimed the attack was in response to an exercise during which Korea fired missiles in its direction.

The Iron Dome defense system could have prevented those deaths had it been deployed on Yeonpyeong Island or South Korean naval platforms.

Korea conducted a military exercise on Friday commemorating the second anniversary of that attack and for those marines and civilians killed. Israeli said North Korea uses exactly the kind of short-range artillery that Iron Dome is designed to thwart.

“Iron Dome is good for short-range missiles or artillery, less than 100 kilometers,” said Israel’s chief diplomatic representative in Korea. “(Iron Dome) has proven itself.”

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Israeli company that manufactures the short-range missile defense system, is already in talks with Korea over a reciprocal procurement deal that would see Israel purchase four patrol ships for its navy from Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to the tune of about $400 million, according to Israeli media outlet Globes.

“Missile defense systems are asymmetric. They make strategic sense insofar as very wealthy countries can use them to mitigate threats from considerably less wealthy states. This dynamic may describe the relationship between North Korea and the triumvirate of South Korea, Japan, and the United States,” Robert Farley, professor at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, wrote in a Nov. 22 article for The Diplomat.

“We remember the 2010 incident when Yeonpyeong was under fire. How Korea responded, and rightly so,” Israeli said. “A huge amount of deterrence is needed in Korea, as well as our region.”

But cost is key. Scores of Iron Dome missile batteries would be required to cover even a mid-sized urban area, with the cost of just one missile battery at about $50 million and missiles at about $100,000 a piece; deploying Iron Dome along Korea’s border with the North and at its maritime Northern Limit Line could cost billions of dollars.

Israel is just as keen to expand relations with East Asian nations, too, as it faces down increased isolation among its neighbors Turkey and Egypt.

“The revolution that took place in Egypt has many implications. The most obvious one is the rising of the Islamists,” Israeli said.

“There must be a combined effort to help Israel cope with the new environment Israel finds itself,” he said, “with increasingly radicalized Islamists taking power in Egypt and an increasing number of those who would use Islam as a sword.”

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)