It is hard to believe it has been 25 years since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. What was everyone doing that day when the attacks happened?:

Here is what is being section what Korea will do with any possible deployment to the Middle East:

Local news reports have speculated on the potential list of military assets for deployment, including the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, a logistics support ship and explosive ordnance disposal teams — mainly non-combat assets.

However, the naval logistics support vessel has reportedly been ruled out as its operation would require dispatching more than 100 sailors.

The assessment team likely visited the Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, home to a primary U.S. military installation in the UAE, to check operational conditions for the potential P-8A deployment.

Sending an assessment team to a candidate deployment site is part of the required procedures under the defense ministry’s directives on overseas military deployment. Upon return, the team is obliged to report the result of the mission to the National Security Council.

The defense ministry, however, has stressed that the team’s dispatch does not mean the deployment will follow, saying that its purpose was strictly to assess the security environment and safety conditions near the strait.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I still think counter-drone and missile defense in support of UAE is play here.

The ruling party and the Korean public do not like Trump which makes it politically difficult to do this deployment in support of Trump. Instead frame it as a request for defensive assistance from the UAE, a long time strategic partner of the ROK. President Lee should not even bring Trump’s name up when discussing this deployment in order to sell it to the Korean public.

If anything I would hope these threats would make the ROK government more determined to deploy assets to the Middle East to show they are not easily intimidated by the Thugs of Tehran:

Complicating Seoul’s deliberations on the issue is Iran’s stern warning against any potential military dispatch to the strait.

“Any other country maintaining a military presence or participating in operations in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz can only be regarded as directly supporting the perpetrators of the aggression, and it will lead to serious consequences,” Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, wrote on X on Monday.

His social media post also carried a photo with a Korean-language message: “A dangerous choice comes with consequences.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I still think deploying anti-drone and missile defense forces to help defend the UAE is a strategy the ROK should pursue. As the Iranian regime becomes more economically desperate they are going to lash out and attack regional energy infrastructure which South Korea can help UAE defend against.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes South Korea to make a decision on this deployment:

South Korea has dispatched an investigation team to assess the situation in the conflict-stricken Strait of Hormuz, the defense ministry said Tuesday, amid repeated calls from Washington for Seoul to assist its war efforts against Iran.

The team departed for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the weekend and is expected to return as early as this week. The examination results will be reported to the National Security Council, the ministry added.

“It is aimed at assessing the state of affairs and the security situation in the strait,” a ministry official explained, stressing that the dispatch “was not decided on the premise of military deployment.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is a very interesting interaction between the Filipino Defense Minister and the Chinese delegation during the Seoul Defense Forum in regards to China’s 9-dash line claim in the South China Sea:

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro speaks during a panel session at the Seoul Defense Dialogue at The Grand Lotte Seoul hotel in central Seoul on Sept. 8, 2026, in this image captured from the forum’s YouTube livestream.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro lashed out at China during a Seoul defense forum Tuesday after receiving an audience note defending Beijing’s rejection of a 2016 international tribunal ruling upholding Manila’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. (………)

The secretary read the slip line by line and offered sharp retorts to each point. When the note claimed that arbitration violated fundamental international law, he shot back, “So what you’re saying is UNCLOS violates international law? That’s what you mean.” 

Reading the part where it read the PCA award has “no binding force,” he said, “Because you don’t want to be subjected to UNCLOS,” and to that Beijing “neither accepts nor recognizes” the ruling, with Teodoro quipping, “Of course, because you lost.” 

Teodoro then held up the slip of paper to the room, denouncing the gesture as a display of China’s “desperate and ineffective” stance, accusing Beijing of a complete lack of “basic decency” and utter disrespect for international law. 

“Perhaps basic decency and behavior are what China needs,” he said, drawing applause from the audience. “This is not a gray zone anymore. This is actual coercion, bullying and aggression.” 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the note was mistakenly given to him by an aide working for China’s defense attaché assigned to South Korea. Teodoro even quipped that he hoped the aide who gave him the note doesn’t end up in a gulag.

Good for Teodoro for strongly standing up for the sovereignty of his country.