Blue House National Security Director Wi Sung-lac gives a briefing from the Blue House on May 11, 2026, regarding the HMM Namu, a Korean-operated cargo ship that was struck in the Strait of Hormuz. (Yonhap)
Korea’s top security official strongly denounced an attack on a Korean-operated cargo ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz.“The position of our government is that attacks on privately operated ships such as the HMM Namu cannot be justified or tolerated,” said Wi Sung-lac, the Blue House director of national security, during a press briefing at the presidential office on Monday.The Korean government is currently analyzing drone engine fragments found in the ship’s hull.“Military attacks on ordinary commercial ships are unacceptable and rightly deserve to be condemned,” Wi said, adding that Seoul would take “an appropriate level of action” as soon as it reached a determination about the attack. Wi presented the following account of the attack: “Two unidentified airborne objects struck the HMM Namu’s stern about a minute apart, starting a fire, producing smoke and sending a tremor through the ship. Considering the pattern of damage and the fact that the damage occurred about 1-1.5 meters above the water level, it’s unlikely that the attack involved sea mines or torpedoes.”The Blue House has not identified the attacker.“Rather than specifying the country responsible for the attack, right now we’re working [to establish the cause]. Until that time, we can’t make any assumptions [about the attacker] or promise a response,” a high-ranking official at the Blue House told the Hankyoreh. The official said that Korea’s response, when it came, “would be comparable to the way that other countries typically deal with similar situations.”When French and Chinese ships were attacked around the same time as the HMM Namu, those countries mentioned the attack without specifying the country responsible.Amid these developments, the Korean government has recovered drone engine fragments from the hull of the ship.Multiple sources with the ruling Democratic Party told the Hankyoreh that the drone fragments would be brought back to Korea for forensic analysis.The previous day, Korea’s Foreign Ministry had said further study was needed to determine if the airborne objects had been drones or missiles.When asked about the fragments of the airborne objects, the senior official at the Blue House only said that “more information would be disclosed after we reach a conclusion.”By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter; Shim Wu-sam, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
