▲ U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a board meeting of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 16, 2026, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) Trump-Hormuz Strait

(3rd LD) Trump renews calls on S. Korea, China, Japan, others to help keep Strait of Hormuz open

(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 9-11; TRIMS)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his calls for South Korea, China, Japan and other countries to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route off Iran, amid growing concerns over disruptions to shipping through the vital waterway.

Trump made the calls during a meeting with trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts at the White House, highlighting that the United States' military has "protected" allies and partners for a long time, and that the U.S. never asked for "reimbursement" for maintaining the strait.

Iran has effectively shut the strait, escalating concerns about the war's impact on oil prices. The waterway is responsible for about a fifth of the world's oil supply.

"We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on this strait far more than ours. We get less than 1 percent of our oil from the strait and some countries get much more," Trump said.

"Japan gets 95 percent. China gets 90 percent. Many of the Europeans get quite a bit. South Korea gets 35 percent. So we want them to come and help us with the strait," he added.

He went on to underscore that the U.S. has provided security protection to allies, apparently raising pressure on them to contribute to the U.S. efforts to secure the strait.

"We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic, and the level of enthusiasm matters to me," Trump said without naming the countries under U.S. protection.

"We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers, great soldiers, protecting them from harm's way, and we have done a great job," he added.

During a press availability at the White House later, Trump pointed out the number of U.S. troops in South Korea, Japan and Germany, reiterating calls for allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"You have to remember. We have 45,000 troops in Japan. We have 45,000 troops in South Korea. We have 45,000 ... 50,000 troops in Germany," he said. "We defend all these countries."

U.S. Forces Korea has about 28,500 service members, while the U.S. has about 55,000 troops in Japan and over 35,000 troops in Germany.

Seoul has so far struck a cautious tone on Trump's call to join the operation to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, saying that the request for the dispatch of a warship is an issue that needs "sufficient" consultations with the U.S., and that it intends to deal with it in a careful manner.

Trump's request for aid in securing the strait appeared to be a tricky test of allies' willingness to support the U.S.

"We don't need anybody. We are the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don't need them," he said during the meeting with the Kennedy Center trustees.

"I am almost doing it in some cases not because we need it, but because I want to find out how they react."

As the war progresses, the Trump administration is expected to call for support from allies and partners.

"These people literally needed 90 percent, 95 percent of their energy or their oil comes out of the strait and they should be in here very happily helping us," Trump said.

South Korea currently has its Cheonghae naval unit in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations.

In 2020, Seoul decided to deploy naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz for independent operations, temporarily expanding the Cheonghae unit's operational area to cover the tense waterway, amid pressure from Washington to contribute to its effort to protect what it regards as global commons in the Middle East.

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