Exclusive: S. Korea Weighs Deployment Plan Excluding Logistics Support Ship Over Political Burden

[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that the government is considering excluding the military logistics support ship from the planned deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz. If the ship is excluded, the deployment size will be reduced to around 50 personnel.

Kim Taehun, our defense specialist reporter, has this exclusive report on the background behind this decision.

[Reporter]

The South Korean Navy currently operates a total of four logistics support ships.

Three Cheonji-class ships were launched more than 30 years ago, while the single Soyang-class ship is 10 years old.

Their speed is more than 20% slower than destroyers, and they lack proper armament, resulting in relatively weak defense capabilities.

Although the Soyang-class is relatively modern, its engine and generator systems are currently experiencing issues, raising concerns that a breakdown during operations in the Strait of Hormuz would make it difficult to manage in the middle of hostile territory.

Due to these reasons, it has been confirmed that the government is strongly considering excluding the logistics support ship from the deployment assets to the Strait of Hormuz.

A high-ranking official at the Ministry of National Defense told SBS, "The support ship itself is problematic, and because it carries a crew of over 100, the political burden of deploying it would be heavy, so we will exclude it from the deployment forces."

The official added, "Since a support ship is a vessel that assists operations, even if we exclude it from our assets, practical contributions can still be made solely through local operations by the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team."

The deployment size is expected to shrink from the initial plan of "over 150 personnel" to "around 50 personnel" as the 100 crew members of the logistics support ship are removed, leaving a combined force of 20 to 30 patrol aircraft crew and maintenance personnel, and 20 to 30 EOD personnel.

If only the patrol aircraft and the EOD team are deployed without a logistics support ship, joint operations with foreign militaries will be inevitable.

The patrol aircraft will likely share surveillance data using a common data link shared among Western nations, while the EOD team is expected to board foreign navies' minesweepers to participate in joint mine-clearing operations.

As the government reviews the "deployment card," the White House in the United States stated, "South Korea is one of the largest importers of Middle Eastern oil" and "we look forward to South Korea deploying resources to that region."

(Camera filming: Kim Hyun-sang, Video editing: Jung Sung-hoon, Design: Kim Min-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.