SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to expand its anti-piracy mission off Somalia to waters near the Strait of Hormuz with additional military assets, including a maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) team, to be deployed, officials said Thursday, signaling the country's first contribution to the conflict-stricken region.
The move follows months of deliberation over its role in international efforts to keep the strategic waterway open since the U.S.-Iran war erupted in February. Seoul has effectively turned down requests from its ally Washington for military support against Tehran.
The revised deployment mandate for the Cheonghae unit, currently operating in the Gulf of Aden, will extend its operational area northeast to waters south of Oman in the Arabian Sea, officials said. The proposed expansion will roughly double its operational radius to about 1,930 kilometers.
Seoul will also deploy the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft to support the destroyer on the rotational mission escorting commercial ships and crews through the Red Sea and ensuring maritime safety in the region.
"The enhancement of the Cheonghae unit's mission is to protect our citizens and safeguard our economic interests," a defense ministry official said earlier on the condition of anonymity, stressing that the proposed reinforcement is strictly for non-combat purposes and the unit will operate independently from any allied forces.
"Operations will remain restricted to the open waters south of Oman, and the maritime patrol aircraft will be prohibited from targeting or monitoring Iranian territory, territorial waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz during their missions," he said.
The expansion will add 75 personnel to the unit, bringing its total count to 395.
The government plans to submit the motion for the revised mandate to the National Assembly following Cabinet endorsement next week. Under South Korean law, an overseas military deployment, or any expansion of an existing mission, is subject to parliamentary consent.
The ministry official noted that the motion will add a new mandate to "support efforts to restore freedom of navigation in international shipping routes" to reflect the expanded mission.
While expanding the operational scope and deployment of the P-8A focus on the unit's enhancement, the addition of an EOD team, along with unmanned mine-sweeping systems, aims to prepare for Seoul's potential participation in post-war joint operations to restore the Strait of Hormuz, another ministry official noted.
Clearing sea mines in the strait is expected to be a primary task requiring international coordination once the war ends.
The operation involves deploying remotely operated submersible robots from uncrewed surface or underwater vessels to locate targets, attach explosive charges and detonate the mines.
Given its limited experience with unmanned mine countermeasures systems, officials said, Seoul seeks to leverage the deployment to test their performance and operational adaptability.
For any recovery operations to begin in the Strait of Hormuz, South Korea has aligned with Britain, France and other partner nations on the need for a "permissive environment" as a prerequisite for launching such missions.
That condition refers to either the end of the U.S.-Iran conflict or a formal agreement signed between the two sides to begin operations aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the region.
"We have promised to join upon request under those conditions," said the official, who asked not to be identified. "As a member of the international community, we must participate. ... We cannot go unprepared when called upon, and that imperative is part of the rationale."
Deploying these non-combat assets for operations in the Strait of Hormuz would require separate parliamentary approval, a step defense officials say the government is prepared to take.
Seoul seeks to operate the newly added assets out of Djibouti, the strategic choke point connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and begin its consultations with the East African nation to that end once the parliamentary process gets under way.
Djibouti also hosts a U.S. military base where its allies and partners like Japan, Spain and France deploy their maritime patrol units.
The Cheonghae unit was formed in 2009 to assist with the U.N. mission launched by a Security Council resolution to battle piracy and ensure maritime security in the Gulf of Aden.
The government renews the unit's mandate annually through parliamentary approval, with the current deployment set to expire Dec. 31.
The unit currently consists of a 4,400-ton destroyer, a naval helicopter, high-speed boats and other assets. Its 49th contingent aboard the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin destroyer left for the Gulf of Aden on Oct. 2 to rotate with the previous crew.
