Kim Jun-hyung, floor leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, said on the 4th that dispatching troops to the Strait of Hormuz is "a line that must not be crossed under any circumstances," responding to media reports that the government is considering such a move.
Writing on Facebook, Kim cited the reports and said, "In the midst of this, a presidential office official confirmed that discussions are under way on ways to make a military contribution in the Strait of Hormuz." He added, "The foreign ministry spokesperson also said the ministry has been in close consultation with the U.S. side on related measures."
Kim said the presidential office backed away once the issue drew criticism, saying "nothing has been decided." He said a pattern keeps repeating in which someone handling foreign and security policy leaks a possibility to the media in the same way each time, gauges public reaction, and then denies that anything has been decided once the controversy grows.
Kim specifically described the U.S.-Iran conflict as an illegal war of aggression. "There is an even more serious problem," he said. "Why on earth should the Republic of Korea consider sending troops to this illegal war of aggression?" He added, "Article 5 of the Constitution states that the Republic of Korea shall endeavor to maintain international peace and shall renounce all wars of aggression. This is wrong from the outset."
He also stressed that the South Korea-U.S. alliance does not stipulate that the country must automatically send forces to every war the United States wages. "Moreover, how can sending our warships to the Strait of Hormuz right now amount to protecting our citizens?" he said. "The moment we place a South Korean warship in the middle of a military clash, we may instead expose the citizens and soldiers we are supposed to protect to the dangers of war."
Kim called for a clear statement of the government's position on a Hormuz deployment. "Even the Yoon Suk-yeol government did not openly send troops to the war in Ukraine, so it is absurd that talk of considering a troop dispatch to help an illegally aggressing state is even coming out of the Lee Jae-myung government, which calls itself a government of popular sovereignty," he said. He added: "Is the government internally reviewing an actual troop dispatch or the deployment of warships, or is it also reviewing ways to expand the mission of the Cheonghae unit? It must state this clearly."
