Hegseth cites North Korea nuclear program as 'lesson' for Iran operation

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday described North Korea's menacing nuclear program as "the lesson" to learn, as he defended the U.S. military operation against Iran, which a Pentagon official said has cost an estimated US$25 billion.

Hegseth made the remarks during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, stressing that Iran's strategy to build nuclear weapons mirrors that of North Korea, as he pointed out that like Pyongyang, Tehran had been building a "conventional shield" of missiles to double down on its nuclear program.

"North Korea is the lesson. Everybody thought North Korea shouldn't have a weapon," he said. "Under the Clinton administration, they gathered so many ballistic missiles that their ballistic missile shield allowed them to blackmail the region and the world (and) to say, 'We're going to get a nuke and you can't do anything about it,'" he said.

The Pentagon chief cast President Donald Trump's decision to launch the military mission against Iran as a "bold" choice to deny Iran an ability to build nuclear weapons, as questions lingered over whether it was necessary for the U.S. to begin the war, which has fueled concerns about its economic repercussions.

"Under this administration, then weakened by the 12-day war and what happened with (Operation) Midnight Hammer, President (Trump) made a bold choice on behalf of the American people, to say, 'Never will Iran -- with their view of death to America and death to Israel -- have a nuclear weapon,'" he said. "Because if they have it, they'll use it. And he's taken that bold action in a way, I think the American people, when they understand the nature of that threat, and they do, they support it."

He was referring to the U.S. military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. He also drew a parallel between Iranian and North Korean nuclear strategies, as Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) challenged Trump's claim that Iran posed an imminent threat at the start of the Middle East war though he said earlier that Iran's nuclear facilities were obliterated in last year's military strike.

"The facilities are bombed and obliterated Their ambitions continued, and they're building a conventional shield," Hegseth said. "It's the North Korea strategy ... The North Korea strategy was (to) use conventional missiles to prevent anybody from challenging them so they could slow-walk their way to a (nuclear) weapon."

He underscored that the U.S. began the operation against Iran at a time when he saw Tehran "at its weakest moment."

Meanwhile, acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst said that the war in Iran has cost the U.S. about $25 billion.

"Approximately to this day, we're spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury, most of that in munitions," the official said.