South Korea to deploy non-combat Hormuz mission

South Korea's defence ministry said Thursday it would deploy maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team to waters near the Strait of Hormuz as part of a mission to help keep the waterway open.

The ministry confirmed that Seoul plans to expand the operational area of its Cheonghae anti-piracy naval unit, which protects commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, to waters near the Strait of Hormuz.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the deployment will include a destroyer, a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, an explosive ordnance disposal team, unmanned surface vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles for underwater exploration. Yonhap said extending the Cheonghae unit's deployment, currently authorised until the end of this year, will require parliamentary approval.

A defence ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the enhanced mission was intended to protect South Korean citizens and economic interests. The official said the reinforcement was strictly for non-combat purposes and that the unit would operate independently of allied forces.

The official said operations would remain restricted to open waters south of Oman and that the patrol aircraft would be prohibited from targeting or monitoring Iranian territory, Iranian territorial waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz.

Seoul has said it will not deploy troops in a way that could lead to military intervention in the Iran war. President Lee Jae Myung reiterated in September that South Korea would maintain what he called a principle of non-involvement and non-intervention.

The US-Iran war that began on February 28 has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil. Tehran has warned South Korea against any such deployment after Seoul said it was considering a contribution to the security of the waterway.