By Kyu-seok Shim
SEOUL, May 11 (Reuters) – South Korea’s presidential Blue House on Monday condemned in the strongest terms an attack against a cargo ship operated by a Korean shipper this month in the Strait of Hormuz and said it plans to respond once the source of the attack is identified.
Experts conducted an initial forensic analysis of the damage to the port stern, a Blue House official said. The attack had led to a fire in the vessel’s engine room.
Namu, the vessel operated by the shipper HMM Co., was not in violation of any rules in effect at the time in the waters off the United Arab Emirates and it was a case of an attack against a commercial vessel that cannot be justified, the official said.
“We condemn this in the strongest terms,” Wi Sung-lac, the South Korean presidential national security adviser, told a news briefing. Damage to the vessel was identified in the forensic inspection by South Korean officials and experts at a port in Dubai, Wi said.
The damage was not known earlier following the attack due to its position in the lower port stern, according to a Blue House official.
It was not known what role, if any, Iran may have had in the attack, the official said. Tehran has previously denied any responsibility for the attack that involved a strong impact on the side of the vessel.
On Monday, the Iranian embassy in South Korea said in a statement it did not have any position on the matter but would announce if there is any update or official position.
U.S. President Donald Trump said soon after the incident that Iran had fired at the South Korean vessel, and urged Seoul to join U.S.-led efforts to secure shipping through the strait.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim, Jack Kim and Heejin KimEditing by Ed Davies)
