South Korean officials said Seoul is discussing what role the country could play in efforts to secure navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. So far, South Korea has refused to participate in the US war against Iran, drawing President Donald Trump’s ire.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo told the National Assembly, “The government is looking at the issue basically not from the perspective of South Korea-US relations, but in terms of ensuring safe navigation [through the Strait of Hormuz], the security of energy supply routes and the safety of our people.”
South Korea sourced 61% of its oil from the Persian Gulf in 2025, making the Strait of Hormuz a crucial waterway for Seoul’s energy supply.
The discussions in Seoul come after Trump repeatedly criticized South Korea for not supporting his war against Iran. Last month, Trump scaled back war games with South Korea and publicly attacked President Lee Jae Myung for assisting the US in the Middle East.
In August, Trump posted on Truth Social that he ordered the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) war games with South Korea to be scaled back. While the President primarily attributed this to the drill being unnecessarily hostile towards North Korea, he suggested that South Korea’s decision not to get involved in the war against Iran was a factor.
“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” he wrote.
During a presser that same week, President Trump recalled a conversation with South Korean President Lee. Trump said, “Would you like to give us a little hand with Iran? If you would like, we don’t need help. [Lee] said, ‘No thanks.’”
The President continued, “What do you mean? We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong Un, and you are not going to help us with Iran? That’s strange.”
Notably, while President Trump halved the size of the UFS war games, he allowed the Freedom Edge drills to proceed as planned in September. South Korea and Japan participate in the US-led Freedom Edge war games, and North Korea views both military drills as provocative.
The ongoing discussions in Seoul include South Korea providing non-military support to the US operation. First Vice Minister Park Yoon-joo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an address to the National Assembly, “It is a bit too much to call it deployment, and what we are discussing with the international community is, in principle, contribution.”
Iran previously warned South Korea about getting involved in the US war. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X earlier this month that South Korea’s involvement “would inevitably be regarded as direct support for the aggressor and would have serious consequences.”
