South Korea plans to expand the operational area of its Cheonghae naval anti-piracy unit to waters closer to the Strait of Hormuz, the Ministry of National Defense has announced, following pressure from the United States to support Washington's war on Iran.
The government will submit a motion to the National Assembly to extend the Cheonghae unit's mandate, which is due to expire at the end of 2026, and to widen its area of operations to waters near the port of Duqm in Oman, approximately 650 kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz. The motion must first be approved by President Lee Jae Myung and the cabinet, with a cabinet endorsement expected next week.
Under the proposed expansion, the unit's operating radius would roughly double to about 1,930 kilometres, pushing northeast into the Arabian Sea south of Oman.
The reinforcement would add 75 personnel, including a bomb disposal team, and a P-8A maritime patrol aircraft to help monitor shipping routes. The unit currently comprises a 4,400-tonne destroyer, a maritime operations helicopter, up to three rigid-hull inflatable boats, and approximately 300 service members. Its latest contingent sailed from Busan on 2 October aboard the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin.
Officials stressed that the expanded mission would be strictly non-combat and that the unit would remain under South Korean command, operating independently of allied forces.
"The enhancement of the Cheonghae unit's mission is to protect our citizens and safeguard our economic interests," a defence ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
"Operations will remain restricted to the open waters south of Oman, and the maritime patrol aircraft will be prohibited from targeting or monitoring Iranian territory, territorial waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz during their missions," the official added.
The Cheonghae unit has patrolled the Gulf of Aden since 2009 to protect commercial shipping. South Korea relies heavily on energy imports and sourced 70 percent of its oil supplies from the Middle East in 2025, most of it delivered through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the country's industry ministry.
The proposal follows criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has called South Korea's support for the Iran war insufficient. Trump scaled back major joint military drills between the two countries this summer, a move that unsettled the US ally.
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 not deploy military assets to the Middle East in a way that could draw the country into conflict, while acknowledging that Seoul was reviewing a greater role in safeguarding regional navigation.
The announcement came as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported that two oil tankers and a tugboat had caught fire in separate incidents after attempting to use unauthorised routes through the strait. One tanker struck a mine while attempting to cross a passage south of the waterway, while a supertanker caught fire while exiting the route in the eastern part of the strait. A tugboat that approached the second vessel to help extinguish the fire also caught fire, according to the IRGC.
The expansion proposal has drawn opposition from lawmakers in Seoul. Kim Joon-hyung, floor leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, said at a news conference at the National Assembly on Wednesday that the move amounted to a troop deployment in all but name.
"Expanding the Cheonghae unit's operational area amounts to a troop deployment," Kim said. "It is not a clever solution but a deceptive workaround."
Kim warned that an expanded mission could expose South Korean forces to Iranian retaliation, even if Seoul insisted its personnel would not take part in combat.
"If President Donald Trump boasts that South Korea was the first country in the world to dispatch troops, we would become the first country to join the Middle East war," he said.
