The Presidential Office is maintaining an extremely cautious response as military tensions between the United States and Iran shift by the day. After U.S. President Donald Trump announced a temporary suspension of the U.S.-led military operation "Project Freedom" just a day after its launch, the Presidential Office also indicated that the need to review participation has disappeared, recalibrating the level of its response.
President Lee Jae-myung made no direct remarks on the explosion and fire aboard the HMM Namoo, which had been anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, during a Cabinet meeting held jointly with an emergency economic review meeting at the Presidential Office on Thursday. After receiving a report from Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on the temporary suspension of Project Freedom, Lee only asked again, "Did they announce that they are halting the attack, that they are ending it?" Cho added, "It could be seen as ending the war to avoid the 60-day limit for conducting war without congressional approval and then resuming it, or it could be that they are genuinely seeking an exit strategy." This was interpreted as meaning that the nature of the U.S. military stance toward Iran, which shifts by the day, is difficult to clearly define.
Lee's decision not to issue separate instructions or additional messages appears to reflect a strategy of withholding judgment amid significant uncertainty while monitoring the flow of the situation. Wi Sung-lac, director of the National Security Office, also said at a Presidential Office briefing that regarding the U.S. request to participate in Project Freedom, "Because that operation has been terminated, a review is not necessarily required at this point."
Wi added, "We are in the process of understanding how the Maritime Freedom Coalition (MFC) previously mentioned by the U.S. relates to Project Freedom," explaining that "the maritime freedom initiative proposed by the U.S. appears to be a broad approach for stabilizing the strait and ensuring freedom of navigation." He continued, "We will also continue to review related cooperation based on our fundamental position of ensuring the stability of international sea lanes and freedom of navigation." While the burden of joining Project Freedom has been partially lifted, the government has left open the possibility of cooperation based on the international-law principle of "freedom of navigation," without ruling out the chance that the U.S. may swing back to a hardline stance.
The Presidential Office also maintains that it is still difficult to conclude that the HMM Namoo fire was an "Iranian attack." Wi said, "Initially the possibility of an attack was raised, but after reviewing additional information, it does not appear certain," adding, "There was no flooding or tilting, and no crew casualties have been confirmed." The Iranian Embassy in Seoul also said in an official statement that it "strongly denies all allegations that the military of the Islamic Republic of Iran was involved in the damage to the Korean vessel that occurred in the Strait of Hormuz."
A senior Presidential Office official also stressed, "If it was not an attack, it is simply a fire incident," adding, "At this stage, there is no need to discuss this on the premise of an attack." The burning vessel is currently being towed, and once towing is completed as early as the early hours of Nov. 7 Korea time, a Korean investigation team dispatched to the site will examine the exact cause of the fire.
The government's continued cautious stance appears aimed at simultaneously managing the need for coordination at the level of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the risks to Middle East energy supply lines. Yoo Ji-hoon, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), said, "Trump's remark about 'significant progress' suggests that certain results were achieved in behind-the-scenes negotiations with Iran, and 'temporary suspension' can be interpreted as meaning that the level of military action will be adjusted while watching the negotiations." He added, "For Korea, it is realistic to consider responses focused on protecting its own vessels and cooperating on international maritime security rather than military involvement."
