From Israel’s detention of two Korean activists to their release: Why did Lee refer to Netanyahu as a ‘war criminal?

This article is by Seo Ji-eun and read by an artificial voice. [EXPLAINER] Two South Korean activists heading to Gaza on a vessel on a humanitarian mission were intercepted and detained by Israeli naval forces in international waters earlier this week, sparking a diplomatic confrontation in a departure from Seoul's traditionally cautious Middle East policy. At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Lee Jae Myung did not simply criticize Israel for the maritime seizure. He demanded the legal basis for the detentions, publicly challenged his own aides and floated the possibility of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The gamble appeared to yield quick results. On Thursday, the Blue House announced that Israel had released both South Korean activists, bypassing standard detention procedures to deport them directly. The activists — Kim Ah-hyun and Kim Dong-hyeon — are expected to arrive in Korea on Friday morning via a third country, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. "The Lee Jae Myung administration expresses strong regret over Israel's capture of our citizens," Blue House senior spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said. "However, we commend and welcome the fact that the Israeli side immediately released our citizens." Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been tracking the situation and proactively notifying Israel — as well as transit countries including Turkey and Italy — about the possibility of Korean nationals attempting to reach Gaza. That groundwork, the official said, is what allowed Israel to act within hours of the interception. Kim Ah-hyun was traveling under a revoked passport; the ministry issued her a travel certificate to ensure she could return. By turning a localized consular dispute into a public debate over international war crimes, however, Lee has sparked debate over whether Seoul is engineering a strategic shift toward a more active diplomacy or merely blundering into a U.S. alliance minefield. At Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, President Lee called Israel's interception of a third-country vessel in international waters illegal and its treatment of Korean nationals "inhumane." He said the seizure had no valid legal basis — the ship was not in Israeli waters, and its passengers were on a humanitarian mission, not a military one. "It gives a foreign military absolutely no legal right to abduct them," he said. "The fact that they violated a domestic travel ban is an internal matter for South Korea to handle." He then raised the ICC. The court issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu in November 2024 — which remains in effect — citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare. When an aide confirmed the warrant's existence without going further, Lee said "Then he's a war criminal." He ordered officials to review whether Seoul, as party to the Rome Statute, should be prepared to enforce it. This was not his first criticism of Israel. In April, Lee reposted a video alleging abuse by Israeli forces and compared Israeli wartime conduct to the Holocaust. The video — filmed in the West Bank in September 2024 — had drawn criticism from the White House, which called it "very shocking," and even the Israeli military acknowledged it was "a serious incident contrary to the military's values." Israel's foreign ministry at the time condemned Lee's remarks. Seoul's diplomats moved to contain the fallout, and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the misunderstanding had been resolved. South Korea is a state party to the Rome Statute, and its domestic law sets out specific procedures for cooperating with The Hague-based ICC, applying extradition rules to surrender requests. If Netanyahu were ever to enter South Korean territory, Seoul would face a real legal and political decision — not just a rhetorical one. The Blue House has since tried to downplay the confrontational nature of Lee's remarks....