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A press conference urging the government to halt reviewing troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz is held in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 17th. / Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

As the South Korean government's discussions on deploying troops to the Strait of Hormuz have recently gathered full momentum, the labor community has strongly pushed back, denouncing the move as participation in a war of aggression and urging authorities to retract the deployment review.

On the 17th, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a press conference in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, criticizing both the South Korean government and the U.S. while demanding an immediate halt to the troop deployment review.

The union characterized the U.S. actions against Iran as an unlawful war of aggression, defining the dispatch of South Korean armed forces as complicity in that conflict. It also voiced vehement opposition, arguing that such a move represents a servile surrender undermining national sovereignty, and insisted that the deployment must be reconsidered to protect genuine national interests.

Emphasizing that the safety of dispatched service members and overseas Korean residents cannot be guaranteed, the KCTU declared, "We firmly oppose any attempt to deploy troops at the expense of the lives and safety of workers and the public, and we will never tolerate it."

Participants chanted slogans including, "The Lee Jae-myung administration must immediately cease reviewing troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz," "Condemn the U.S. for forcing participation in a war of aggression," and "Pro-U.S. toadies and treasonous forces must come to their senses."

Yang Kyeong-soo, president of the KCTU, asserted, "The U.S. invasion of Iran is clearly a war of aggression," adding, "No country in the world is complying with the Trump administration's requests for support in the Strait of Hormuz, nor with its calls for backing in this war of aggression. The entire world has already turned its back on the unilateralism and self-righteousness of the Trump administration."

Yang further pointed out, "The Lee Jae-myung administration of South Korea is the only government currently contemplating formal discussions on a troop dispatch. Yet various public opinion polls clearly show that more than half of our citizens explicitly oppose taking part in any form of war through troop deployment. The Lee administration must heed the will of the people rather than succumbing to pressure from Trump."

He concluded, "The government must clearly state that it will not bow to the Trump administration," pledging, "We will stop this U.S. war of aggression and bring an end to the Lee administration's troop deployment discussions."

                                                                                                               Lee Ha-eun