World
South Korea plans to expand anti-piracy operations closer to Hormuz Strait
South Korea's defence ministry says it will ask the National Assembly to extend the Cheonghae anti-piracy unit's mandate beyond 2026 and widen its patrol area from the Gulf of Aden to waters near Duqm in Oman, about 650km from the Strait of Hormuz. The move follows US pressure on Seoul to support Washington's war on Iran, and officials say operations would remain noncombat and under South Korean command. Opposition lawmakers call the expansion a disguised troop deployment that could invite Iranian retaliation.