“Unable to call a troop deployment a troop deployment” ... People Power Party criticizes “Hong Gil-dong-style fence-sitting diplomacy”

[Financial News] As the South Korean government moves to send military assets to the Strait of Hormuz, the debate over deploying troops is stirring again. On the 30th, National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac said the government was considering ways to strengthen and expand the Cheonghae Unit’s activities in the Strait of Hormuz, reigniting the controversy. The People Power Party criticized the Blue House for pursuing “Hong Gil-dong-style fence-sitting diplomacy.”
The criticism is that the Blue House cannot even give a clear answer to the U.S. request to send warships, while behind the scenes it is toying with expanding the Cheonghae Unit’s operations.
In a spokesperson’s commentary on the 31st, the People Power Party said, “While saying it would never get involved in the war, the government is actually considering sending our troops near the conflict zone,” adding, “There’s no modern-day Hong Gil-dong like this, unable to call a troop deployment a troop deployment.” The party said the government was playing both sides diplomatically.
Iran, however, has threatened to attack in response to any form of intervention in the Strait of Hormuz.
The People Power Party said, “If the ROK-U.S. Alliance is important, negotiate confidently; if protecting our ships is urgent, then frankly explain the operation’s necessity and risks to the public.”
The People Power Party also demanded that President Lee Jae-myung first make clear whether the expansion of the Cheonghae Unit’s activities is a response to the U.S. request for a troop deployment.
It urged the Lee Jae-myung administration to stop hiding behind the bizarre sophistry of “a non-deployment that is like a deployment.”
The People Power Party criticized this as irresponsible diplomacy that holds national security hostage, saying, “While evading the responsibilities the president must bear, the government is trying to put the lives of our service members on the scales of political calculation.”

[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter