Defense Minister Discusses Middle East Situation in Phone Call with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Colby

Listening to the U.S. Position on Military Operations Against Iran

Regarding the airstrikes between the United States, Israel, and Iran, Defense Minister An Kyu-baek held a phone call with Elbridge Colby, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy, on March 2 to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

Defense Minister An Kyu-baek met with Elbridge Colby, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, at the Ministry of National Defense on January 26. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Ministry of National Defense, Minister An spoke with Deputy Assistant Secretary Colby by phone at 8:30 p.m. that day at Colby's request. During the call, An listened to the U.S. position on its military operations against Iran and shared assessments of the situation in the Middle East.

The ministry stated, "Both South Korea and the United States reaffirmed the strength of the ROK-U.S. alliance amid a rapidly changing international security environment, and agreed to continue close communication and cooperation going forward."

Earlier that day, Minister An held a situational assessment meeting in the Joint Chiefs of Staff operations control room to review the current situation in the Middle East. The meeting was attended by more than 40 key officials from the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with commanders of overseas deployment units-including Dongmyeong, Cheonghae, Akh, and Hanbit Units-joining via video conference.

During the meeting, Minister An assessed the Middle East situation and the North Korea issue, and checked on the status of the overseas deployment units with their commanders. According to the Ministry of National Defense, there have been no reported casualties or damage to South Korean military deployment units as of now.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a joint headquarters-embassy situation review meeting that day, presided over by Director-General for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Yoon Juseok. The meeting was attended by more than 10 embassies and consulates, including those in the U.A.E., Dubai, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, and Iraq. According to the ministry, there have been no reported or confirmed injuries to South Korean nationals so far.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it will continue to closely monitor developments in the Middle East and make every effort to ensure the safety of South Korean citizens.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.