President Lee Jae-myung, 'Deeply Concerned' About Hormuz Deployment

President Lee Jae-myung maintained a cautious stance on the deployment of troops to the Strait of Hormuz. During a meeting with civic groups, he used the expression 'concerns are deep' regarding the deployment. It is known that discussions are currently underway with France and the United Kingdom on operations to secure safety in the Strait of Hormuz.

Deployment to the Strait of Hormuz entails realistic difficulties and strategic pressure. Concerns have been raised that if troops are deployed, our vessels could become targets for terrorist groups. Furthermore, to ensure the safe passage of our vessels, the pressure from the United States for deployment cannot be ignored. The President faces an awkward situation where neither decision is easy.

The host strongly criticized the People Power Party, which urged deployment, as a 'group of traitors.' He argued that both the opposition and ruling parties raising their voices against deployment in unison would greatly assist the President in negotiating with the US government regarding deployment. He expressed the opinion that strong domestic opposition to deployment could instead serve as leverage to increase negotiating power with the United States.

There is a precedent for using domestic public opinion as negotiating leverage in the past during the Park Chung-hee administration's deployment to Vietnam. President Park Chung-hee at the time instructed even Republican Party members to voice opposition to the deployment in the National Assembly. This allowed opposition to deployment to emerge even within the ruling party, thereby increasing negotiating power by suggesting to the US government that additional concessions were needed to appease Korean public opinion.