Seoul, Sep 18 (IANS): South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday highlighted the need for the country to protect its citizens and national interests in the Strait of Hormuz, but said there will be no troop dispatch that might lead to the country’s involvement in an overseas conflict.
“Let it be clear. There will be no dispatch of troops that will lead to involvement in a conflict. There will be no engagement or involvement in war,” Lee said in a televised press conference.
“The principle of no engagement or involvement in war has been observed so far and will continue to be observed in the future,” he asserted, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The president’s remarks came as Seoul is deliberating making what it calls “contributions” to ensuring freedom of navigation along the key transit route in the face of mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump.
A South Korean on-site investigation team returned home last week from a mission to the United Arab Emirates to assess the overall Middle East safety situation, in an apparent sign of preparations for a possible military dispatch.
The president said it was also clear that the country needs to conduct “at least the minimum level of activities” to safeguard its citizens, ships and the transportation route for crude oil in the area, as other countries do.
South Korea’s Cheonghae military unit has expanded the scope of its mission to carry out relevant activities in the area, but “it is true that we are reviewing and thinking about ways to strengthen (measures) on this,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of resuming dialogue between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump, Lee said, “The possibility cannot be ruled out although it would be admittedly difficult,” adding he could not pin down how likely it was.
“It is clear that we should do our utmost to make the possibility come true,” the president said, adding that the dialogue, if resumed, would serve as an important stepping stone for ensuring inter-Korean relations and peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
“The resumption of North Korea-US dialogue would be far easier than resuming inter-Korean dialogue and help resume dialogue between the two Koreas,” he said.
“I am continuing to play my role as a preliminary mediator to make North Korea-U.S. dialogue possible,” he added.
