U.S. President Donald Trump on the 14th (local time) publicly singled out Korea and demanded that it dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, in 2020 under the Moon Jae-in administration, Korea independently deployed the Cheonghae Unit to the Strait of Hormuz at the request of the United States. At the time, the United States asked for participation in a coalition, but the Korean government did not accept this and found a workaround by independently expanding the Cheonghae Unit's area of operations.
That day, President Trump said on his Truth Social account, "Countries affected by Iran's attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz will send warships with the United States to keep the strait open and safe." He added, "Hopefully China, France, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and other countries affected by artificial constraints will send vessels here so that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer threatened by a country whose leadership has been totally eliminated."
Trump's message came the day after meeting Prime Minister Kim Min-seok. On the 13th, after meeting President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Prime Minister Kim told correspondents, "There was no specific discussion related to Iran or any request for military support, and in terms of timing that would have been impossible." But the very next day, President Trump publicly demanded the dispatch of warships.
◇ Moon administration sent the Cheonghae Unit independently to Hormuz without National Assembly consent
Earlier, on Jan. 21, 2020, Korea dispatched the Cheonghae Unit, which had been deployed to the Gulf of Aden, to the area around the Strait of Hormuz. As tensions of war in the Middle East rose due to friction with Iran, the United States asked Korea to join the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), a coalition to protect Hormuz. However, Korea chose an independent deployment by expanding the Cheonghae Unit's area of operations from around the Gulf of Aden (1,130 kilometers) to about 3,900 kilometers around the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf), a 3.5-fold increase. The Cheonghae Unit carried out missions escorting Korean merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Moon Jae-in administration did not seek the National Assembly's consent when dispatching the Cheonghae Unit to the Strait of Hormuz. Article 60, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states that the National Assembly has the right to consent to the deployment of the armed forces abroad. Accordingly, when the Roh Moo-hyun administration sent Korean troops to the Iraq War in 2003, it went through the procedure of passing the "motion to approve additional troop deployment for the Iraq War" in the National Assembly. But the Moon Jae-in administration said "National Assembly consent is not necessary." This was because a proviso newly added to the "motion to extend the dispatch of the Armed Forces to the waters of the Gulf of Aden off Somalia," which passed the National Assembly at the end of 2019, limited the Cheonghae Unit's dispatch area to "the waters of the Gulf of Aden off Somalia," but added that "in the event of protecting our nationals in an emergency, areas as directed are included."
Not only the opposition parties but also People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), a progressive civic group, expressed opposition. In a statement at the time, PSPD said, "Our Constitution requires the National Assembly's consent when it comes to overseas deployment of the armed forces," and "There must not be any dispatch of the Cheonghae Unit to the Strait of Hormuz. The government should not take any action that militarily intervenes in or supports the conflict between the United States and Iran."
At the time, the Korean government's choice of an independent dispatch rather than joining a coalition was seen as a last resort that also took into account relations with Iran. About 20,000 Korean nationals live in the Middle East, and considering that Korea imports nearly 70% of its crude oil from the Middle East. Japan's decision to reject the U.S. request to join the IMSC and to send only Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ships and patrol aircraft was also taken into account.
It is reported that the United States has not yet formally requested a dispatch from the Korean government. The government's position is that if an official request comes, it will review it in depth. However, as in 2020, there is said to be a view that taking sides with either the United States and Israel or Iran could endanger our nationals and corporations, so prudence is needed.