Park Jie-won: Deployment to Hormuz may be unavoidable, though opposition is understandable

Park Jie-won of South Korea’s Democratic Party said the country may have no choice but to consider sending noncombat troops to the Strait of Hormuz, despite opposition from within his political camp and other progressive groups.

Appearing on SBS radio on the 8th, Park said Iran might regard a deployment as participation in war. But he argued that South Korea’s need to protect its ships in the strait and its relationship with the United States made some form of deployment unavoidable.

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We have no choice but to deploy to some extent if the troops are noncombat personnel, considering the need to protect our ships in the Strait of Hormuz and various aspects of our relationship with the United States.

Park said the government should negotiate the specific conditions closely with Washington. He warned against both rejecting deployment outright and sending combat troops. If the government submits a troop-deployment consent bill to the National Assembly, he said, it should “of course pass.”

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We cannot yield to U.S. pressure and join an aggressive war.

He said opposition from members of his own camp, the Basic Income Party, the Progressive Party, the Justice Party and civic groups deserved to be understood. But Park framed the issue as one involving relations with the United States and the national interest, and said President Lee Jae-myung had made the right decision in considering the deployment.

The Progressive Party said it could not yield to U.S. pressure or join an aggressive war. It began nationwide emergency actions opposing the deployment. Song Young-joo, a party supreme council member who held a one-person protest outside the National Assembly, urged political parties to state their positions quickly and join calls against deployment in parliament.

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We will unite our determination to protect peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and 반드시 prevent the deployment.