South Korea prepares Hormuz military deployment, media reports say

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File photo — Stringer SEOUL, Sept 4 (Reuters) - South Korea is preparing to deploy military assets to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and aims to dispatch them before the end of the year, media reported late on Thursday, citing government and military sources.The reports in several South Korean media outletssaid the government was preparing procedures to seek parliamentary approval for the deployment, including submitting a consent motion to parliament this month after cabinet review.The government wasconsidering options including sending a maritime patrol aircraft, a logistics support vessel or a mine detection and clearance unit, and had been discussing the scale and nature of a potential contribution with countries including the United States, Britain and France, the reports said.South Korea's presidential Blue House said Seoul had been discussing practical ways to contribute to freedom of navigation in the strait, but reports that the government had settled on a deployment were "different from the facts".U.S. President Donald Trump said in an August social media post that he had scaled back U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises in part because South Korea had declined to help theU.S. in the war against Iran. (Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim; Editing by Stephen Coates) AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.