hankyoreh

The South Korean Navy’s Cheonghae Unit departs for the Strait of Hormuz on the ROKS Wang Geon from Busan Naval Base on Jan. 21. (Yonhap News)

The US government has welcomed South Korea’s decision to independently deploy military forces to the Strait of Hormuz, but there are clear indications that the government of Iran is upset with South Korea’s move.

A US State Department spokesperson told the Hankyoreh on Jan. 21 that the US welcomes and appreciates the South Korean decision to expand the operational scope of the Cheonghae Unit to include the Strait of Hormuz. The decision demonstrates the strength of the South Korea-US alliance and the two countries’ commitment to cooperate on international security concerns, the spokesperson added.

“As we have stated in the past, this is an international problem that requires an international solution,” Pentagon spokesperson David Eastburn said in regard to South Korean government’s deployment decision. “We welcome our South Korean allies helping to ensure freedom of navigation in the Middle East by supporting the IMSC.”

While Seoul announced that it had decided on independent action and wouldn’t be participating in the US-led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), the US appears to welcome the decision on the grounds that expanding the Cheonghae Unit’s operational scope will ultimately benefit the IMSC.

In contrast, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi noted with irritation that the South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) had referred to the “Arabian/Persian Gulf” while announcing the expansion of the Cheonghae Unit’s operational scope to include the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 21. “If the South Korean Ministry of National Defense isn’t even fully aware of the historical nomenclature of the Persian Gulf, what knowledge or legitimacy could lie behind its deployment of military forces to the region? The basis of relations between civilized states is their mutual acceptance and respect for the facts,” Mousavi wrote on Twitter.

The waters between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula are known internationally as the Persian Gulf, but certain countries that are in conflict with Iran, such as Saudi Arabia and the US, call it the Arabian Gulf. By taking issue with the fact that the South Korean government combined the two names, calling it the “Arabian/Persian Gulf,” Mousavi appears to have been obliquely expressing Iranian annoyance about the deployment.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent, and Lee Yong-in staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]