{"id":40086,"date":"2019-07-12T22:23:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T22:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=40086"},"modified":"2019-07-12T22:23:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T22:23:04","slug":"south-korea-considers-joining-coalition-to-patrol-waters-off-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=40086","title":{"rendered":"South Korea considers joining coalition to patrol waters off Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nSEOUL: The South Korean government is in discussions with the US over plans to join a multinational naval coalition to protect shipping in the Arabian Gulf in the face of alleged Iranian threats, Foreign Ministry officials revealed on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\nThe move came after Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated the US was holding talks with several nations to send ships to safeguard waters surrounding Iran and Yemen.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe (South Korean) government is concerned about the escalation of tensions in the Middle East region,\u201d Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim In-chul said in a briefing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOur position is that freedom of navigation and commerce should not be put into jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe spokesman said his ministry has yet to receive any formal request on the coalition matter.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe\u2019ll keep discussing the issue with the US side,\u201d Kim said. \u201cNo details have been discussed yet about when, how and what we would do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nWashington is seeking to enlist its allies for a multinational coalition to operate in waters off Iran and Yemen to secure commercial shipping and prevent attacks that could harm the world\u2019s oil supply.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"\"
\nGen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. (AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\nA fifth of the oil that is consumed globally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Indian Ocean with the Gulf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe\u2019re engaging now with a number of countries to see if we can put together a coalition that would ensure freedom of navigation both in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab Al-Mandeb,\u201d Dunford said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cProbably over the next couple of weeks we\u2019ll identify which nations have the political will to support that initiative and then we\u2019ll work directly with the militaries to identify the special capabilities that will support that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe said the US military would provide \u201ccommand and control\u201d ships, while other coalition members should send ships to patrol waters between the American naval vessels.<\/p>\n

\nSouth Korea has participated in previous US-led coalition operations, as the country has long been dependent on US military forces for protection against North Korea, with the two Koreas technically still at war.<\/p>\n

\nIn 2004, South Korea sent a 3,600-strong continent to Iraq for humanitarian and rehabilitation operations. About 200 engineers and medics were also dispatched to Afghanistan in support of the US war on terrorism.<\/p>\n

\nThe South Korean Navy is a member of anti-piracy operations in the Somali waters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe unit, called \u201cCheonghae,\u201d has escorted thousands of South Korean and international vessels in and around the Gulf of Aden since 2009.<\/p>\n

\nAs of February, the Cheonghae Unit escorted 21,895 vessels and conducted 21 operations to counter piracy on the seas, according to the service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe total sailing distance of the unit amounted to 1.95 million km.<\/p>\n

\nIt also takes part in the Combined Maritime Force, a multinational naval force dedicated to maintaining maritime safety and combating piracy, and conducts joint military drills with the EU\u2019s maritime security operations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEOUL: The South Korean government is in discussions with the US over plans to join a multinational naval coalition to protect shipping in the Arabian Gulf in the face of alleged Iranian threats, Foreign Ministry officials revealed on Thursday. The move came after Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":40087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}