France, South Korea Vow to Reopen Strait of Hormuz
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- Macron and Lee Jae Myung agreed in Seoul on April 3, 2026, to cooperate on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and de-escalating "West Asia animosities," while signing separate pacts on nuclear fuel supply chains, a southern South Korea offshore wind project, and critical minerals.
- Trump told allies in an April 1, 2026 speech that Americans "don't need" the Strait of Hormuz, singling out South Korea, Japan, and China — which he said "get 90% of their oil from the Strait" — and told them to "grab it and cherish it."
- Macron said a military operation to reopen the Strait was "unrealistic," directly contrasting with Trump's push for allied boots-on-the-ground action against Iran.
- South Korean officials said Seoul was in contact with Washington but was not considering paying Iran transit fees to secure fuel shipments through the strait.
- The US stations roughly 28,000 troops in South Korea — not the 45,000 Trump cited — with the deployment meant to deter North Korea, not to project power into the Middle East.
Why it matters: With Trump publicly demanding allies secure a strait through which one-fifth of global oil flows, France and South Korea are aligning on a diplomatic track while explicitly ruling out the military operation Trump seems to want. The troop-count error and Seoul's refusal to pay Iran transit fees underscore how the US and its key Asian allies are diverging on how to contain Tehran, not just on rhetoric.
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