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

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.