South Korea seeks wider naval patrols in waters south of Oman

South Korea plans to extend its anti-piracy mission beyond waters off Somalia toward the Strait of Hormuz, the Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. The proposal follows pressure from US President Donald Trump for Seoul to support Washington’s war on Iran, and has drawn objections from opposition lawmakers.

A ministry spokesperson told Reuters that the government would ask the National Assembly to renew the Cheonghae naval unit’s mandate, which expires at the end of 2026, and broaden its patrol area. The proposed area includes waters near Oman’s port of Duqm, about 650km, or 403 miles, from the strait. Yonhap reported that the motion would reach lawmakers after cabinet endorsement next week.

The Cheonghae unit has protected commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden since 2009. Its most recent contingent departed Busan on October 2 aboard the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin. The 4,400-tonne destroyer carries a maritime helicopter and approximately 300 service members.

Under the proposal, patrols would extend northeast into the Arabian Sea south of Oman. Officials told Yonhap that this would roughly double the unit’s operating radius to about 1,930km, or 1,200 miles. The mission would receive another 75 personnel, including a bomb disposal team, along with a P-8A maritime patrol aircraft to support monitoring of shipping routes.

Officials described the proposed mission to Yonhap as strictly noncombat. They said the unit would retain South Korean command and operate independently of allied forces. An unnamed defence official said the expansion was intended to protect South Korean citizens and economic interests.

That official said operations would be confined to open waters south of Oman. The maritime patrol aircraft would be barred from targeting or monitoring Iranian territory, Iran’s territorial waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz during its missions.

President Lee Jae Myung pledged to help protect shipping in April during talks led by the United Kingdom and France. In September, however, he said he would avoid deployments that risked bringing South Korea into the war.

Opposition lawmakers have challenged the proposed expansion. At a National Assembly news conference in Seoul on Wednesday, Kim Joon-hyung, floor leader of the small left-leaning Rebuilding Korea Party, argued that widening the patrol area amounted to deploying troops. He warned that South Korean forces could face Iranian retaliation despite assurances that they would avoid combat. Kim also said that if Trump portrayed Seoul as the first country to dispatch troops, South Korea would become the first country to join the Middle East war.