South Korea sends P-8, bomb squad near Hormuz Strait
The Cheonghae unit’s expanded mission to waters south of Oman still needs approval from South Korea’s parliament.
South Korea will deploy a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team to waters near the Strait of Hormuz to help keep shipping lanes open. The Defense Ministry in Seoul is also preparing to expand the operating area of the anti-piracy Cheonghae unit, which has protected merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden. According to Yonhap, the deployment includes a destroyer, an EOD team, unmanned surface vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles and ROVs for underwater exploration. Seoul said the mission is non-combat and will operate separately from allied forces. Operations are limited to open waters south of Oman, while the patrol aircraft is barred from monitoring Iran, its territorial waters or the inner part of the Strait of Hormuz. The move comes as the United States-Iran war disrupts shipping in the chokepoint normally crossed by about a fifth of global oil supplies.