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Park Chan-kyong

When a South Korean cargo ship exploded and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, Donald Trump wasted no time declaring what he thought it meant.
“Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” the US president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, invoking the incident as fresh justification for Seoul to send naval forces to the embattled waterway.
Seoul’s answer, for now, has been a polite but firm no – or at least, not yet.
The explosion occurred aboard a Panama-flagged vessel operated by HMM, one of South Korea’s largest shipping firms, at around 8.40pm Seoul time on Monday.

The ship was anchored in waters near the United Arab Emirates with 24 crew members aboard: six South Koreans and 18 foreign nationals.
The fire, which broke out on the port side of the engine room, took crew members roughly four hours to bring under control. No casualties were reported and the vessel is expected to be towed to Dubai for further investigation.
Investigators are reportedly still determining whether the blast was caused by an external attack or an internal malfunction.
Yet Trump was quick to claim Iran had fired on the South Korean vessel, among other targets, adding that US forces destroyed seven Iranian fast boats while escorting commercial ships through the strait as part of “PROJECT FREEDOM” – Washington’s name for an operation to guide stranded vessels out of the waterway amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

“Other than the South Korean Ship, there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait,” he said.
Officials in Seoul suggest South Korea is likely to delay any decision on joining the US-led mission to protect commercial shipping until the European Union, Japan and other countries agree to form a multinational escort fleet.
And even then, South Korea would not act unilaterally.
A senior official in the presidential office told Yonhap News Agency that any military involvement abroad would require both a UN Security Council resolution and National Assembly approval.
“At this stage, no concrete decisions have been made,” the official said, adding that the “immediate priority is to determine the cause of this incident”.
It is unimaginable for South Korea to deploy forces independently at the outset of such a mission
Jun Bong-geun, political scientist
Analysts say that caution reflects South Korea’s preoccupation with its nuclear-armed neighbour to the north and the simple fact that it lacks the surplus capacity to project force into a distant conflict zone.
“There is a significant asymmetry of interests between the United States and South Korea regarding a prolonged conflict with no clear end,” said political scientist Jun Bong-geun, president of the Korea Nuclear Policy Society.
“It is unimaginable for South Korea to deploy forces independently at the outset of such a mission,” he added.


Kim Joon-hyung, a lawmaker from the progressive opposition Rebuild Korea Party, was blunter still.
“We do not need to feel burdened by staying out of a war initiated by the United States and Israel, especially when no other countries are participating,” Kim told This Week in Asia, adding that there was “little possibility that South Korea would respond alone to the US call”.
He also questioned whether Trump’s call actually constituted a serious operational request, noting the absence of any concrete plans beyond the US president’s social media posts.
‘Project Deadlock’
The Strait of Hormuz has been closed to virtually all international shipping since late February, in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s former supreme leader and many of the country’s senior officials.
Some 26 South Korean vessels are currently stranded in the Middle East awaiting the strait’s reopening, according to Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
A temporary ceasefire first announced by Trump on April 7 has since been extended, though Tehran condemned the launch of “Project Freedom” on Monday as a violation and reportedly fired warning shots at US warships.
US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, has denied Iranian state media claims that an American destroyer was struck.
Shipping giant Maersk, meanwhile, reported on Tuesday that one of its vessels had successfully exited the strait under US military escort.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s “Project Freedom” proclamation by labelling it “Project Deadlock”, adding in a social media post that there could be “no military solution to a political crisis”.
South Korea’s position on the US-led mission to reopen the strait has not been one of outright refusal, but rather a carefully managed ambiguity.
President Lee Jae Myung previously attended a UK- and France-led summit on freedom of navigation through Hormuz, pledging “practical contributions”, and officials have said that all options technically remain on the table.
Jun suggested that Seoul might consider joining the US-led mission if a genuine multinational coalition materialised.
“South Korea strongly supports the principle of freedom of navigation and firmly condemns any attack on its vessels,” he said.
For now, though, Seoul appears to be watching, waiting – and hoping the next move belongs to someone else.
On Tuesday, South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that it was “reviewing the US proposal about the Strait of Hormuz”, adding that Seoul and Washington had been “closely communicating for safe use of key waterways”.


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South Korea

South Korea rebuffs Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ call after Hormuz ship fire

South Koreans protest in Seoul last month against an earlier request by US President Donald Trump to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP

Vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast on Monday. Photo: ISNA/AFP

A person points at a screen no Monday displaying vessel movements in the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Moscow last month. “Project Freedom is Project Deadlock”, he said on social media in response to Trump’s announcement. Photo: EPA

South Korea risks US rift over Iran’s Hormuz Strait squeeze

South Koreans protest against US President Donald Trump’s request to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz in front of the US embassy in Seoul on Monday. Photo: TNS

Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE last week amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Photo: Reuters

Cars wait in a line at a petrol station in Seoul last week. Photo: Reuters

South Korea in ‘Catch-22 situation’ over Trump’s call for warships to secure Hormuz

Activists hold placards during a rally against the US demand for South Korea to deploy troops to the Strait of Hormuz, outside the US embassy in Seoul on Monday. Photo: Reuters

A cargo ship sails in the Persian Gulf towards the Strait of Hormuz in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. Photo: AP

A departure ceremony is held for the 300-strong Cheonghae Unit to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, at a naval base in Busan, South Korea, on June 28, 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

A South Korean protester wears a mask of US President Donald Trump during a protest against Trump’s request to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz, in front of the US embassy in Seoul on Monday. Photo: AFP

What is really behind South Korea’s row with Israel?

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attends a National Economic Advisory Council meeting in Seoul on Thursday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Visitors look at an exhibition ahead of Israel’s national Holocaust memorial day at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Oil tanks and facilities at Yeosu National Industrial Complex, the largest petrochemical industrial complex in South Korea, on April 7. The country relies heavily on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP

South Korean protesters hold placards showing caricatures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally in Seoul denouncing war on Iran on Monday. Photo: AP 

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A UN mandate and a global coalition are required before Seoul joins Trump’s mission to reopen the strait, officials indicate


A UN mandate and a global coalition are required before Seoul joins Trump’s mission to reopen the strait, officials indicate.


South Korea rebuffs Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ call after Hormuz ship fire

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A UN mandate and a global coalition are required before Seoul joins Trump’s mission to reopen the strait, officials indicate

A UN mandate and a global coalition are required before Seoul joins Trump’s mission to reopen the strait, officials indicate