Yu Yong-won says he won't oppose Cheonghae Unit deployment extension, but calls for stronger drone and mine defenses

Yu Yong-won, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, said Wednesday he has no fundamental objection to the government's revised motion to extend the Cheonghae Unit deployment, but called for stronger safety measures against drones and sea mines.

Speaking on YTN Radio's Jang Seong-cheol's News Myeongdang that day, Yu doubled down on the importance of troop safety, saying the Strait of Hormuz is "a critical strategic chokepoint through which 70 percent of our crude oil and 20 percent of our natural gas pass." "The Korea-US alliance matters, but above all else, the safety of our troops is what counts most," he said.

Yu said the revised deployment extension motion, which cleared a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, was "overdue but can be seen as meeting the necessary conditions to a reasonable degree." He added that he plans to scrutinize troop safety issues when the National Defense Committee takes up the motion for deliberation, saying there are areas that still need to be addressed.

Yu said he was particularly concerned that the motion does not adequately prepare for drone attacks. "People hear the word 'unit' and imagine a large force with lots of equipment and personnel, but in reality it is a single 4,500-ton destroyer," he said. "The military says it has reinforced the vessel with drone countermeasures, but they are still insufficient."

He said Iran's drone capabilities are "among the best in the world," and noted that the Shahed-136 drone — widely used in the war in Ukraine — has a maximum range of more than 2,000 kilometers, putting even the expanded operational area within its reach.

Yu also warned that floating mines could drift down with ocean currents, and said the unit's mine-countermeasure capabilities need to be reinforced as well.

Yu said the National Defense Committee has not yet formally discussed the revised motion. On the People Power Party's official stance, he said the party would weigh national interests — including the Korea-US alliance — alongside troop safety before settling on a position. "Lawmakers are independent constitutional bodies, so there may be differences of opinion, but I think it is unlikely the party will take an actively opposing stance," he said.

Yu was also critical of plans to merge the military academies, saying the issue "has gotten badly tangled up in an attempt to punish the Korea Military Academy." He said the compromise now being floated would leave the Naval Academy and Air Force Academy at their current locations while relocating only the Korea Military Academy from Taereung to near Sejong. The plan would maintain all three service academies while also creating a new joint national military academy.

Yu said President Lee Jae-myung had remarked that merging the academies could reduce the likelihood of coups, given that the Korea Military Academy was involved in three. "Approaching the academy merger as a punitive measure against the past misconduct of some sunbae officers and generals from the Korea Military Academy is not the right way to go," Yu said.