Update · 5 Nov 2026, 1:21 PM PKT: The motion to expand the Cheonghae unit's area also needs approval from President Lee Jae Myung, in addition to the cabinet.
South Korea plans to move its anti-piracy patrols beyond the waters off Somalia and closer to the Strait of Hormuz, the Ministry of National Defense said. The step follows pressure from the United States for Seoul to support its war on Iran.
A Defence Ministry spokesperson told a news agency on Thursday that the government will ask the National Assembly to extend the mandate of the Cheonghae unit, a naval task force due to expire at the end of 2026. The request would also widen the unit’s operating area to waters near the Omani port of Duqm, about 650km (403 miles) from the strait.
Cheonghae unit’s mandate heads to lawmakers
According to officials, the cabinet is expected to endorse the motion next week before it goes to lawmakers. The unit has patrolled the Gulf of Aden since 2009 to protect commercial shipping.
Also read: South Korea to send naval mission to protect Hormuz shipping · Iran Guards say three oil tankers hit mines in Hormuz
Its latest contingent departed South Korea’s Busan port on October 2. The force sailed aboard the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin, a 4,400-tonne destroyer that carries a maritime helicopter and about 300 service members.
Wider operating range and added personnel
Under the proposed mandate, the unit would push northeast into the Arabian Sea south of Oman. Officials said this would roughly double its operating radius to about 1,930km (1,200 miles).
The expansion would add 75 personnel, including a bomb disposal team. It would also bring a P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, which would help monitor shipping routes.
Noncombat limits draw opposition criticism
Officials told local media the mission would be strictly noncombat and that the unit would stay under South Korean command, operating independently of allied forces. A defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aim was to protect citizens and safeguard economic interests. The official added that operations would stay restricted to open waters south of Oman, and that the patrol aircraft would be barred from targeting or monitoring Iranian territory, territorial waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz.
The proposal follows pressure from US President Donald Trump for Seoul to back Washington’s war on Iran. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged in April to help safeguard shipping during talks led by the United Kingdom and France. In September, he said he would avoid any deployment that could draw South Korea into the war.
Opposition lawmakers have argued against the expansion. Kim Joon-hyung, floor leader of the small left-leaning Rebuilding Korea Party, said at a news conference at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday that expanding the unit’s area amounts to a troop deployment. He called it “a deceptive workaround” rather than a clever solution.
Kim warned that a broader mission could expose South Korean forces to Iranian retaliation, even though Seoul insists its personnel would not take part in combat. He said that if Trump boasts that South Korea was the first country to dispatch troops, the country would become the first to join the Middle East war.
