Iran's Foreign Ministry Warns Korean Cheonghae Unit, Citing Korean Proverb
Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a warning over South Korea's plan to expand the mission of the Cheonghae Unit, the Korean naval contingent deployed to guard waters including the Strait of Hormuz. On the 12th (local time), Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, posted on X (formerly Twitter) the Korean proverb "If the sparrow follows the stork, it will tear its legs," sending a message to the Korean government. Baqaei included the same sentence in his English-language post, citing it as a 'Korean proverb.' The accompanying image showed a stork with American flag patterns on its wings falling toward a cliff bearing the Iranian flag, with a warship and oil tankers floating on the sea below the cliff — an arrangement evoking the Strait of Hormuz.
Baqaei said, "No bilateral agreement or commitment with the United States can serve as legitimate grounds for any country to violate its obligations under international law or join the U.S. and Israel's military aggression against Iran." He went on to warn, "Any country joining this illegal aggression in any form will bear full responsibility for the consequences."
The tone of the warning escalated over just three days. At a regular briefing on the 9th, Baqaei said regarding the expansion of the Cheonghae Unit's operational area: "Korea should refrain from deploying military forces to the region under the pretext of supporting the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz," adding that it "should avoid becoming involved in an already sufficiently complicated situation." At that time he had noted that "Iran and Korea have maintained a long-standing friendship for more than 60 years, based on mutual respect and the interests of both countries," but this time he dropped any mention of friendly relations and instead led with words like 'illegal' and 'hostile acts.'
The government has decided to expand the operational area of the Cheonghae Unit, which operates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, to waters south of Oman, closer to the Strait of Hormuz. The government cited a more than threefold increase in pirate activity near the Gulf of Aden as the background for the mission expansion. Procedures are also underway to deploy additional assets, including maritime patrol aircraft, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team, and unmanned mine-clearing equipment.
The Foreign Ministry indicated that the expansion of the Cheonghae Unit's operational area is distinct from the war unfolding in the Hormuz region, and that this position has been conveyed to Iran through multiple channels. The ministry stated, "With the aim of protecting our citizens and safeguarding economic interests, we are proceeding with the motion to extend the unit's deployment under the principle of non-involvement and non-intervention in the war, as a means of strengthening the Cheonghae Unit's mission," adding, "We are maintaining continuous communication with Iran and other relevant countries." The revised motion to extend the deployment to expand the Cheonghae Unit's operational area has been sent to the National Assembly, where it will undergo review by the National Defense Committee before proceeding to a plenary vote.
