Iran Issues Stark Warning to South Korea in Korean: "Will Bring Severe Consequences"

[Anchor]

As South Korea deliberates on whether to dispatch troops to the Strait of Hormuz amid pressure from the United States, the Iranian government has issued a public warning. Tehran warned that participating in military operations would be supporting an aggressor and would lead to severe consequences—delivering its 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 posted an image containing Korean text on social media today (September 7), alongside an official statement written entirely in Korean.

Stating that "Iran highly values its friendly relations with South Korea," the spokesperson warned that "any nation that participates in military operations in the Strait of Hormuz will be regarded as supporting the aggressor, which will bring severe consequences."

The use of Korean appears to be a deliberate move to deliver a clear 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 adviser 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 consider this a hostile act and will seek to destroy all assets South Korea holds in this region.]

Warnings that a new control zone will be declared just outside the Strait of Hormuz were also issued under the name of the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to pressure 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 he hopes military assets from allies outside the Middle East region will arrive swiftly.

[Chris Wright / U.S. Energy Secretary: I think other countries are going to join in on this effort as well, because global commerce is important.]

The White House once again singled out South Korea.

A White House official specifically named South Korea as one of the major importers of Middle Eastern crude oil, pressing that Washington is still waiting for Seoul to commit resources to the region.

The pressure from both the United States and Iran regarding South Korea's troop deployment is escalating simultaneously.

(Photo courtesy of Park Eun-ha | Video Editing by Cho Moo-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.