COVER STORY Hormuz deployment could expose Korea to unnecessary risks: critics
Members of civic groups wearing masks depicting President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump stage a protest against the possible deployment of Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Korea should stay out of the U.S.-led military mission in the Strait of Hormuz because participating in a war with questionable legitimacy would undermine Seoul’s diplomatic principles and expose it to unnecessary security risks, critics said.
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They argued that even a limited contribution involving noncombat assets would effectively amount to participation in military operations. They also rejected the idea that concerns over the Korea-U.S. alliance or pending economic and security negotiations should compel Seoul to join the mission.
“The war itself does not have sufficient justification,” political commentator Lee Kang-yun said, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump has faced criticism for what he described as an impulsive approach to international relations and foreign policy, including starting the war with Iran in late February.
Lee also noted that the conflict has become increasingly bogged down, while the U.S. Navy is in a difficult position that makes it harder for Washington to disengage.
“It is under these circumstances that the U.S. is pressuring us,” he said.
Civic groups have raised similar objections, arguing that the distinction between combat and noncombat contributions does not change the fundamental nature of Korea’s involvement.
The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan rejected the government's characterization of assets such as logistics support vessels and maritime patrol aircraft as playing a strictly noncombat role.
“Supporting military operations itself clearly constitutes participation in the war,” the group said in a statement. “No calculation of diplomatic benefits can justify participating in a war that disregards international law and takes countless lives.”
People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) also characterized the conflict as an unjustified war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran while nuclear negotiations were underway in late February.
It also argued that Korea would undermine its own diplomatic principles by joining the mission.
“It would be contradictory to advocate peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula while participating in a war of aggression in another region,” the group said, calling on the government to rule out deployment in accordance with the constitutional principle against wars of aggression.
Lee questioned whether Korea had sufficient justification to participate when other major U.S. allies have refrained from doing so.
“If countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan are not doing it, and we participate because we cannot withstand U.S. pressure, Korea’s national standing and position in the international community would be significantly weakened,” he said.
Security risks surrounding a deployment also need to be considered, Lee said, particularly given Iran’s ability to launch drone attacks against maritime targets.
He questioned whether Korean naval forces were sufficiently trained to respond to such threats, even if their stated mission was limited to protecting Korean vessels.
Another central issue is whether refusing Washington’s request could complicate pending Korea-U.S. negotiations on diplomatic, security, economic and trade issues.
Lee acknowledged that Washington could seek to use those issues as leverage to pressure Seoul but argued that Korea should not yield to such tactics.
Individual bilateral issues have their own history and logic, he said, and should not be overturned simply because Seoul refuses a U.S. demand on Hormuz.
Economic and trade negotiations, in particular, cannot be determined solely by Washington because they are also shaped by market forces and the interests of both countries, he said.
“Every economic activity involves reconciling the interests of both sides and finding a point of compromise,” Lee said.
He argued that even under Trump, there should be limits to linking unrelated bilateral issues to Korea’s participation in a Hormuz mission — and that Seoul should not give in if Washington crosses that line.