President Lee Jae-myung on the 11th said, "I will quietly pioneer that path, thinking only of the people and a better tomorrow for the national interest." Lee said to be deliberating over the issue of deploying troops to the Strait of Hormuz.
At 2 p.m. that day at the Blue House, Lee convened a senior secretaries' meeting and said, "As the international order is passing through a tunnel of extreme chaos, we more than ever need the wisdom to strengthen our capabilities, broaden our diplomatic horizons, and resolve various issues through close coordination with the international community."
Lee added, "I ask that the public also take interest and join us."
Lee's latest remarks are seen as keeping a deployment in mind. Earlier, on the 8th, Lee held a summit with President Emmanuel Macron of France and said, "We agreed to continue close coordination so that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the stability of global supply chains can be restored as soon as possible."
It was interpreted as a resolve to seek whether and how to deploy troops within the framework of "coordination with the international community."
At the meeting that day, Lee also emphasized the importance of cooperation with the international community.
Referring to the achievements of the France visit, he said, "By strengthening cooperation with France, a core EU country, our diplomatic horizons toward Europe will be broadened accordingly," and added, "The faster the world order becomes multipolar, the more we must join hands with more countries and expand our diplomatic reach to more diverse regions."
Earlier, the Blue House took a cautious approach regarding the issue of deploying to the Strait of Hormuz, saying, "Nothing has been decided yet." However, while explaining that "there are various options for military support," the political sphere sees it as effectively making the deployment a fait accompli.
In fact, the Ministry of National Defense sent a fact-finding team last week to the Strait of Hormuz for an on-site survey.