President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea pushed back against pressure from the Trump administration on Friday, declaring that his country would not deploy troops or military assets to support the U.S.-led war against Iran.
In recent weeks, President Trump has publicly taunted the South Korean leader, venting frustration over what he described as Seoul’s refusal to help defend the Strait of Hormuz — once the world’s main transit point for oil — while American troops remain stationed on the Korean Peninsula to shield South Korea from North Korea. On Friday, Mr. Lee firmly rejected any military involvement in the Middle East conflict.
“There will be no deployment of troops or dispatch of military assets to be involved in or intervene in this war,” Mr. Lee said in a news conference.
Instead of a combat deployment, Mr. Lee noted that Seoul is considering expanding the operational scope of a South Korean navy destroyer and its support ships currently stationed off the coast of Somalia for antipiracy operations. He emphasized that even if those assets move closer to the Red Sea or the Strait of Hormuz, their sole focus would be protecting South Korean oil tankers and other commercial vessels. They will not participate in any operations that could be interpreted as supporting the war against Iran, he said.
While Mr. Trump has not specified the exact type of assistance he expects from Seoul, he complained last month that he had asked Mr. Lee “to give us a little hand” in the conflict, reminding him of the U.S. military presence in South Korea.
“He said, ‘No, thanks,’” Mr. Trump recalled. “I see. Well, why are we involved in helping you?”
It was not the only issue that a grim-faced Mr. Lee addressed on Friday. Fifteen months into his single five-year term, his approval rating has fallen to a new low of 37 percent, battered by troubles brewing not only at home but also by strains with South Korea’s most important ally, the United States.
Last month, Mr. Trump unilaterally scaled down one of the United States’ annual joint military exercises with South Korea, calling the drills not only “costly” but also “totally inappropriate and hostile” toward North Korea. He said that, for as long as he had been in office, North Korea had been “unthreatening and respectful.” Mr. Trump also boasted of having a “very good relationship” with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, even as the North has become a bigger nuclear threat against the South.
At home, South Korea’s main stock index — once lauded as a premier beneficiary of the global A.I. boom — has crashed, devastating the portfolios of millions of individual investors who were encouraged by Mr. Lee’s government to buy stocks. Mr. Lee has also failed to deliver on his repeated pledges to curb rising housing costs.
The opposition has accused him of seeking a constitutional amendment that would allow him to run for a second term, a move explicitly barred by the current Constitution. His presidency also remains marred by his suspended criminal trials on charges including violating election laws and inducing perjury. The opposition has claimed that Mr. Lee was plotting a special bill to erase those charges, which he has insisted were fabrications orchestrated by his conservative adversary and predecessor, the impeached and ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
On Friday, Mr. Lee said that although he supported a constitutional revision allowing future presidents to seek a second term, he himself had no intention of seeking re-election. He called it “constitutionally impossible.” The claim that he might seek a second term, he said, was nothing more than a “political offensive.”
Mr. Lee also said he supported the National Assembly’s appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether politicians like him, as well as journalists, had been targeted in politically motivated criminal investigations under Mr. Yoon. But he said that he did not want such a special prosecutor to have the power to drop the criminal charges already filed against him.
“It’s because of my own shortcomings,” Mr. Lee said, referring to his plummeting approval ratings. “I fell short in consideration, sensitivity and communication.”
Mr. Lee also said his government remained in “fierce” negotiations with Washington over how to implement the sweeping agreement the two governments announced last November. Under the pact, Mr. Trump reduced tariffs on key South Korean exports, including automobiles, from 25 percent to 15 percent. He also pledged U.S. support for South Korea’s efforts to develop nuclear-powered submarines and to enrich uranium for civilian nuclear energy. In exchange, Mr. Lee committed $350 billion in investments in the United States.
But negotiations over the deal’s implementation have stalled over the details, fueling doubts on both sides about the other’s willingness to follow through.
On Friday, Mr. Lee said the two governments were close to finalizing an agreement on where the first batch of South Korean investments should go.
Mr. Lee said he had been unhappy with a proposed agreement and had instructed his government to continue negotiating. He did not elaborate, but emphasized that any investment projects must be “commercially reasonable” and that the two governments needed to agree on how to share profits and losses from such projects.
“We should not buckle under pressure or coercion,” he said, adding that his comment reflected his government’s general negotiating principle and was not aimed at the Trump administration in particular.
But Mr. Trump’s complaints that he has received “very little help from other countries” for the war in Iran have placed immense diplomatic pressure on Seoul. The United States led the United Nations forces that repelled North Korean invaders during the 1950-53 Korean War, anchoring what is now a seven-decade-long alliance. South Korean troops formed the largest foreign contingent fighting alongside American forces in the Vietnam War.
Yet, acceding to Mr. Trump’s request would carry severe political risks for Mr. Lee. The last time South Korea sent forces to a U.S.-led conflict — the Iraq War, which began in 2003 — the progressive administration of then-President Roh Moo-hyun faced a fierce domestic backlash, particularly from his own party and base. Although that deployment consisted primarily of engineering and medical units, the decision permanently crippled Mr. Roh’s approval ratings.
Public opinion in South Korea remains against intervention. A poll conducted this month showed that 55 percent of South Koreans oppose deploying troops to the conflict with Iran, compared to just 32 percent in favor.
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