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South Korea is heading for a military deployment to the Strait of Hormuz in order to protect South Korean shipping interests in the region, with the Seoul government preparing to seek a consent motion in parliament as early as this month, according to media reports on Thursday.
The patrol aircraft, logistics support ships and mine detection and clearance vessels are being reviewed by the government as potential assets to be deployed. A source told JTBC News that the government is "reviewing deployment plans" with the ultimate goal of "stabilizing the Strait of Hormuz" and to "protect the shipping of Koreans" in the region.
The foreign troop deployment requires a National Security Council decision, cabinet discussion, and a National Assembly consent vote. JTBC reported the Dong-A Ilbo article saying that the consent motion could be tabled as early as this September, and all assets will be deployed by end of this year.
The Blue House on Thursday rejected news reports that a decision had been made on the South Korean troop deployment in the Strait of Hormuz. While discussions were still under way on the scope of South Korea's military contribution to freedom of navigation in the waterway, the scale and form of South Korean participation was being discussed with Washington, London and Paris.
President Trump recently stated on social media that he had scaled back joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises in part because Seoul had declined to support U.S. operations against Iran. The implications of that stance for the relationship between South Korea and the U.S. appear to have had a powerful impact in Seoul.
For Seoul, it will cost very little, while the military contribution will clearly indicate the solidarity of the ally. South Korea is one of the largest importers of oil from the Middle East in the world and at the same time a country with a large number of ships cruising around the globe. Therefore, it has huge interests in maintaining the freedom of navigation through Hormuz.
If approved by the parliament, the contribution would be South Korea's first ever military contribution to the U.S.-Iran theater and mark a historic shift in the military role of the Korean ally that has hitherto restricted its military to the Korean Peninsula.
