Seoul, March 17 – South Korea's defence ministry has not received any official request from the United States to deploy warships to the Middle East, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said on Tuesday, following US President Donald Trump's call urging allies to send vessels to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
Ahn made the remarks during a parliamentary session after Trump reiterated his call on Monday for South Korea, Japan, and other allies and partners to join US efforts to keep the vital shipping route open, stressing that Washington has long provided security protection to those countries, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"The defence ministry has not received an official request," he told lawmakers when asked about the matter, adding that he does not consider Trump's social media messages urging the deployment of warships to be an official request.
While noting that the ministry had held various internal discussions prior to an official request, Ahn said that such details were not yet at a stage where they could be disclosed.
He stressed that such a deployment "should be decided in consideration of national interest, public safety, the Constitution and law," and would be a matter that requires parliamentary consent.
The defence chief, meanwhile, pledged to maintain firm military readiness against "all possible situations" that could arise from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
"Moving forward, our military will thoroughly maintain a firm readiness posture against all possible situations," he told lawmakers in a parliamentary defence committee meeting, taking note of what he called expanding military clashes across the Middle East.
"While ensuring the safety of military units dispatched overseas, the defence ministry maintains a strengthened surveillance posture against North Korea under close coordination with the United States," he added.
Last week, South Korea successfully carried out the mission "Operation Desert Shine" to safely bring home 204 nationals from Saudi Arabia using a military transport aircraft.