South Korea moves Hormuz patrol 650 km closer to the strait

South Korea will shift its Cheonghae anti-piracy destroyer from its current Gulf of Aden base to Duqm on Oman's south coast, putting it roughly 650 kilometres closer to the Strait of Hormuz. Seoul announced the move on November 5, 2026.

The destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin, with around 300 crew and an organic helicopter, will be joined by 75 additional personnel, a bomb disposal team and a P-8A maritime patrol aircraft. The expanded mission remains non-combat: its stated purpose is protecting South Korean commercial shipping as tensions in the Persian Gulf stay high.

The backdrop is the ongoing Iran conflict and pressure from Washington. South Korean ships have faced elevated risk since Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz last month, and an Indian-flagged cargo vessel was struck off northern Oman on November 2. Turkey's decision to put its warships on the highest security level across 14 areas the same week gives a sense of how quickly the regional picture has changed.

The Cheonghae unit has operated continuously in the Indian Ocean region since 2009. No date for the Duqm redeployment was given.