South Korea reportedly readying to deploy military forces to Hormuz amid US pressure

South Korea is preparing to deploy military assets to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and aims to dispatch them before the end of the year, local media reports, citing government and military sources.

The reports in several South Korean media outlets say the government is preparing procedures to seek parliamentary approval for the deployment, including submitting a consent motion to parliament this month after cabinet review.

The government is considering options including sending a maritime patrol aircraft, a logistics support vessel or a mine detection and clearance unit, and has been discussing the scale and nature of a potential contribution with countries including the United States, Britain and France, the reports say.

South Korea’s presidential Blue House says Seoul has been discussing practical ways to contribute to freedom of navigation in the strait, but reports that the government has settled on a deployment were “different from the facts.”

US President Donald Trump said in an August social media post that he had scaled back US-South Korea joint military exercises in part because South Korea had declined to help the US in the war against Iran.