Halt the Deployment of South Korean Troops to the Strait of Hormuz

Below, we publish the statement from the South Korean group March to Socialism — member of this initiative of CRP News Asia with our tendency, Current for Permanence Revolution – Fourth International —regarding the South Korean government’s recent announcement to intervene militarily in the Strait of Hormuz alongside the United States.

The Lee Jae-Myung government is pushing for the deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz, concealing the true nature of this operation through wordplay ranging from “substantive contributions” to “military contributions,” and from the concept of combat to “non-combat operations.” However, regardless of the name given to this deployment, what the Lee administration is preparing is participation in a war of aggression.

The push for this troop deployment is neither a sudden deviation by the Lee government nor the result of capitulation to U.S. pressure. This administration has consistently maintained the stance of using the global rearmament resulting from the intensification of the struggle between imperialist powers as an opportunity for the advancement of Korean capitalism, and the deployment to Hormuz is simply a military expression of that stance.

Amidst the global escalation of war, the Lee government has sought to accelerate the accumulation of profits by Korean capital. The powerful manufacturing supply chains of Korean capitalism—including the semiconductor, shipbuilding, and defense industries—served as leverage. At the beginning of 2026, the administration defined the South Korea-U.S. alliance as a “solid backing for economic revival,” listing projects such as the construction of nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment, and the expansion of authorization for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.

In the context of escalating war, the government lauded the booming defense industry as a “new growth engine” and the project driven by the Trump administration to expand naval power as a “new opportunity” for the Korean shipbuilding industry. Furthermore, these megaprojects were nothing less than a declaration of intent to step into the heart of the struggle between imperialist powers in order to accumulate the dwindling profits of the AI industry, which was already part of the arms race. In the context of the intensifying struggle between imperialist powers, Korean capital in the defense, semiconductor, and shipbuilding sectors has amassed enormous profits, and the Lee administration has acted as its faithful backing.

The push for this troop deployment elevates this linkage to a higher level. It signifies the intention to participate directly in the war waged by the United States to expand Korea’s role within the U.S.-led military and industrial order, and to use this, in turn, as leverage for profit accumulation by Korean capital. In other words, this push for deployment is directly linked to the Lee government’s strategy of utilizing the ROK-U.S. alliance as a “solid backing for economic revival.”

The Lee government’s preparations for troop deployment have made the Korean Peninsula an even more dangerous space. Profits cannot be reaped from the war industry without being exposed to it. We live in an era of crisis where supply chains are polarized and militarized. As Korean capitalism integrates more deeply into the U.S.-led supply chain, Korea’s military role will expand and the risk of war on the Korean Peninsula will intensify. Capital appropriates the profits of the war industry, while the risks and costs of war fall upon the working masses.

There is no reason for Korean workers to fight Iranian workers. Nor is there any reason for American workers to fight Iranians. American workers must oppose the wars of aggression undertaken by the U.S. ruling class, and Korean workers must oppose the South Korean government’s troop deployment and the expansion of the war industry. Iranian workers must also oppose imperialism and war independently of their own ruling class.

If we wait for the troop deployment motion to be presented to the National Assembly to discuss a response, it will already be too late. Let us rise up in the struggle against the Lee government’s troop deployment! In the current situation, the role of the democratic trade union movement is fundamental. Let us immediately set aside the illusion of “social dialogue” and organize anti-deployment resolutions in every possible workplace. Let us analyze the nature of this deployment and build a united front against war and imperialism in our regions and workplaces. The power to halt production and logistics is the power to prevent this deployment. With the firm determination to use the power of the working people to force the withdrawal of this deployment intended for the capitalists, let us organize a general political strike against imperialism and war!