[Anchor]

Protests led by civic groups are growing against the potential deployment of troops to the Strait of Hormuz. When our reporting team listened to citizens' voices, opinions were sharply divided between those opposed due to a lack of justification and those arguing that national interest serves as the justification.

Reporter Dong Eunyeong has the story.

[Reporter]

[Oppose the deployment to the Strait of Hormuz! (Oppose! Oppose! Oppose!)]

A coalition of civic groups centered around the 2030 generation, including college students, held a rally in front of the U.S. Embassy in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, to oppose the deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier in the morning, civic groups including the Social Great Transformation Solidarity Conference raised their voices in front of the presidential office, urging the government to withdraw its review of the deployment.

[We oppose the Lee Jae-myung administration's deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz! (Oppose! Oppose! Oppose!)]

Statements opposing the deployment are also continuing.

Three days ago, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) stated its opposition to the deployment, citing that the South Korean Constitution stipulates the rejection of aggressive wars. Today (September 7), the government employees' union made its opposition clear, stating, "We have experienced how deeply the deployment to Iraq left divisions in our society."

Citizens met by the SBS reporting team expressed diverse opinions.

Some argued that deployment is inevitable since South Korean merchant vessels pass through the strait,

[Citizen in Favor of Deployment: We bring oil into our country through the Strait of Hormuz, so it needs to be safe. Nothing in this world is free.]

While opposing views arguing that there is no justification also emerged.

[Choi Ki-seok / Guro-gu, Seoul: This is a war started because the U.S. attacked first, and they are fighting over oil in the Strait of Hormuz. Japan, European countries, and Canada are all drawing the line and saying they won't deploy troops....]

There were also voices expressing concern about retaliation.

[Guk Jung-seok / Mapo-gu, Seoul: Iran's current actions judge countries as hostile nations and carry out retaliations against them. It seems like it would do more harm than good.]

As the possibility of troop deployment resurfaces as an agenda item 23 years after the deployment to the Iraq War in 2003, backlashes centered around civil society are expected to continue.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Reported by Ha Ryong and Hangyul, Video Editing by Choi Jin-hwa)