Trump: "South Korea, Japan and others should manage the Strait of Hormuz themselves"

According to Financial News, President Donald Trump has pressed South Korea, Japan and other beneficiary countries to take direct responsibility for safeguarding the Strait of Hormuz, where tensions have risen due to threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran. He also voiced open dissatisfaction with what he described as South Korea’s uncooperative stance, referring to the presence of United States Forces Korea (USFK) deployed for defense against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
On the 1st (local time), during an Easter luncheon at the White House in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump spoke with reporters and argued that the threat to block the Strait of Hormuz is not fundamentally a problem for the United States of America (US). In that context, he remarked, "Let the European countries do it. Let South Korea do it."
President Donald Trump specifically took aim at South Korea, saying, "(South Korea) has not helped us." He went on, "We have 45,000 soldiers in a very rough area, right next to nuclear power (the DPRK)," suggesting that South Korea enjoys security benefits while failing to respond to Washington’s strategic requests.
His remarks are being interpreted as an attempt to use the USFK presence as leverage to pressure Seoul on both defense cost-sharing and the deployment of warships to the Strait of Hormuz, after South Korea did not give a clear answer to Washington’s repeated requests for such a deployment.
Aiming at other countries that use the strait, President Donald Trump also said, "Let Japan do it. They get 90% of their oil from the strait."
He added, "Let the People’s Republic of China do it. Let them—the beneficiary countries—do it themselves."


jjyoon@fnnews.com Yoon Jae-joon Reporter