South Korea plans to extend its anti-piracy mission from waters off Somalia
toward the Strait of Hormuz, officials said Thursday. Seoul will authorize an
adjustment to the Cheonghae Unit’s deployment, extending its operational area
northeast to cover the Arabian Sea south of Oman and roughly doubling its patrol
radius to about 1,930 km. The government will deploy P-8A maritime patrol
aircraft and explosive ordnance disposal teams to support rotating destroyers
that escort merchant ships through the Red Sea and maintain maritime security.
Officials said the move—South Korea’s first military support near the
conflict-affected Hormuz area—follows months of internal debate since the
outbreak of the US-Iran war in February and comes after Seoul previously
declined a US request to support military action targeting Iran.
