Seoul Denies Ruling Out Cooperation With Americans in War With Iran

President Lee Jae-myung is attempting to have it both ways as he responds to President Trump’s request for assistance in the war against Iran. No, he is not going to send troops into or near the Strait of Hormuz to support the Americans, as requested by President Trump.Yes, South Korea’s Yonhap News reports, Mr. Lee’s government is still “reviewing practical ways to contribute in close communication with the international community, including the United States, in order to protect our citizens and safeguard national interests.”Mr. Lee’s office accompanied that carefully ambivalent response with a flat denial of press reports that South Korea had outright rejected the American proposal to join in the war with Iran. Mr. Lee “did not turn down Trump’s request for South Korea’s cooperation on Middle East-related issues,” Yonhap quoted a “presidential official” as telling South Korean reporters. Rather, the government “has been reviewing practical ways to contribute in close communication with the international community, including the United States, in order to protect our citizens and safeguard national interests.”That cautious rationale was Mr. Lee’s way of attempting to stay on good terms with South Korea’s American ally and to placate South Korean conservatives who think he’s leaning too far to the left. Mr. Trump, when he scaled down annual joint American and South Korean military exercises last month, said one reason for that decision was Seoul’s failure to support the Americans against Iran.As Mr. Lee’s popularity ratings in polls falls below 40 percent, conservative have derided what are seen as his leftist policies. “He should have sent troops to the Middle East a long time ago,” a conservative critic, Choi Tae-hyun, tells the Sun. “He is afraid to do anything. Now it’s too late.”Like Mr. Trump. Mr. Lee has often said he still hopes to meet with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. Mr. Kim, who has ruled out anything to do with the South, has not responded to pleas for dialogue while building up North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Mr. Lee’s aversion to risking South Korean forces seemed evident when he said earlier that there would be “no deployment that involves or constitutes participation in a war” and “we will not deploy troops or military assets in that manner.”Mr. Lee could find a way around what seemed like a firm decision by increasiing the size of forces pursuing pirates operating off the coast of Somalia on routes to and from the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. One South Korean destroyer is currently in the area, accompanied by a helicopter unit and a small number of South Korean marines but safely away from the war. Seoul might double the size of the force, dispatching another destroyer and support troops.South Korea’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, has met at Washington with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and congressional leaders, discussing the options in the context of the South’s promise to invest $350 billion in industrial projects in America. The talks could also touch upon South Korea’s avowed need for nuclear-powered submarines to be produced with American advice and assistance by a leading Korean shipbuilder, Hanwha, at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard, in which the company bought a controlling stake last year.Seoul and Washington, however, have a way to go in ironing out their differences. The president of the Korea Economic Institute, a South Korean government think tank, Scott Snyder, said South Korea’s idea of a compromise role in the Middle East “may not pass muster” with Mr. Trump. “Under normal circumstances, such a mission would be appreciated and desirable,” Mr. Snyder told the Korea Times, “but the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains dynamic and unpredictable.”

Seoul Denies Ruling Out Cooperation With Americans in War With Iran

Seoul Denies Ruling Out Cooperation With Americans in War With Iran

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