▲ President Lee Jae Myung answers a question from a reporter during a nationally televised news conference at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Sept. 18, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Cheong Wa Dae said Saturday that President Lee Jae Myung's remarks ruling out troop dispatches that could involve the country in a war were not a refusal of U.S. President Donald Trump's request for Seoul to send forces to the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The presidential office clarified the position after the New York Times reported that Lee's comments at a press conference Friday amounted to a rejection of Trump's appeal for Seoul's military cooperation in the Middle East.

"Lee did not turn down Trump's request for South Korea's cooperation on Middle East-related issues during yesterday's press conference," a presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "The government has been reviewing practical ways to contribute in close communication with the international community, including the United States, in order to protect our citizens and safeguard national interests."

Seoul will continue to examine concrete options under its stated principle of not intervening in a war or combat, the official added.

On Friday, Lee said during the nationally televised press conference that "there will be no dispatch of troops that engages or intervenes in a war," while noting that the Cheonghae Unit has already been deployed to the region to counter piracy and other threats to the safety of the Korean people, and that Seoul is reviewing ways to strengthen that role.

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