[Anchor]
As South Korea contemplates whether to dispatch troops to the Strait of Hormuz amid pressure from the United States, the Iranian government has issued a public warning. Iran cautioned that participating in military operations would mean supporting aggressors and lead to severe consequences, notably posting this official statement entirely in Korean.
For our first report, Washington Correspondent Lee Hanseok has the details.
[Reporter]
"Dangerous choices come with a price."
A spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs unusually published this image and statement in Korean on social media.
While stating that "Iran highly values its friendly relations with South Korea," the spokesperson warned that "any nation participating in military operations in the Strait of Hormuz will be regarded as supporting the aggressor, which will entail severe consequences."
This use of Korean appears aimed at delivering an unmistakable message to Seoul not to yield to U.S. pressure.
Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran who has also served as an advisor for nuclear negotiations with the U.S., suggested that Iran could target South Korean assets in the Middle East.
[Mohammad Marandi / Professor, University of Tehran: Iran will view this as a hostile act and will seek to destroy all assets South Korea holds in this region.]
Additionally, the secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council warned that a new control zone would be declared outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the United States has repeatedly pressured other nations to provide military support, framing it as a global economic necessity to secure Middle Eastern oil shipments.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that Washington hopes military assets from allies outside the Middle East will arrive promptly.
[Chris Wright / U.S. Energy Secretary: I think other countries will join in this effort moving forward because global trade is important.]
The White House once again singled out South Korea.
A White House official explicitly pointed to South Korea as one of the primary importers of Middle Eastern crude oil, pressing that the U.S. continues to await Seoul's deployment of resources to the region.
As the issue of troop deployment hangs in the balance, pressure from both the United States and Iran is simultaneously intensifying.
(Camera footage by Park Eun-ha / Video editing by Cho Moo-hwan)
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