Sources at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Yonhap news agency that authorities are trying to “verify” whether an attack took place, as U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Monday (4). The sources emphasized that “there are no casualties” among the South Korean crew of the ship, operated by HMM.
HMM itself stated that, “for now, it is unclear whether the incident was caused by an external attack or an internal malfunction,” before adding that the ship, the Namu, will be transferred to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while investigations continue into what happened on the vessel, which had 24 crew members on board – six South Koreans and 18 foreigners.
For its part, the South Korean Presidency has called a meeting for Thursday to discuss a possible response to the incident involving the Panamanian-flagged vessel, according to its spokesperson, Kang Yu Jung, though no details have been released so far and there is no information regarding a decision by Seoul.
Trump emphasized on Monday that U.S. forces had sunk seven Iranian speedboats as part of “Project Freedom,” which has the stated goal of escorting merchant ships affected by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, before stating that “Iran fired shots at uninvolved countries, including a South Korean merchant ship.”
Read more: Iran War: shots fired at US ships in Hormuz “were a warning” (with video)
“Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to join the mission,” he wrote in his social media app Truth Social. In this regard, Seoul announced that it will “carefully reassess its position” regarding possible participation in U.S. operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
Without committing to a potential change, the South Korean Ministry of Defense indicated that it intends to “carefully reexamine its position” taking into account international law, the security of international shipping lanes, the alliance with the United States, and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The South Korean government also noted that it “actively participates” in international discussions on cooperation aimed at ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
