Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17. (AFP-Yonhap) A South Korean tanker is currently exiting the Strait of Hormuz under coordination with Iran, Seoul said Wednesday, marking the first known transit attempt by a South Korea-linked vessel since the outbreak of the US-Iran war.Foreign Minister Cho Hyun disclosed the development during a parliamentary session, saying, “At this very moment, a South Korean tanker is exiting the Strait of Hormuz under coordination with the Iranian side.”An official at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, requesting anonymity, told reporters the vessel’s movement was taking place “in coordination with relevant countries, including Iran, to ensure the vessel’s safety.”According to the ministry official, the Iranian government informed the South Korean Embassy in Tehran on Monday afternoon that one South Korean vessel would be allowed to transit the strategic waterway.“The government plans to additionally request that all South Korean vessels be allowed to transit freely through the Strait of Hormuz,” the official said.The ministry said one of 26 South Korea-related vessels currently in or near the Strait of Hormuz began sailing Thursday morning from waters near Qatar. Officials said the vessel was using the same route previously taken by ships that managed to leave the strait after the outbreak of the conflict.The development comes 88 days after the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, during which commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has faced severe disruption amid heightened regional tensions and security concerns.Earlier in the day, ship-tracking data cited by Bloomberg showed that the South Korean-flagged supertanker Universal Winner had begun signaling Wednesday morning near the Strait of Hormuz, south of Iran’s Larak Island, along a Tehran-approved transit route.The vessel, carrying Kuwaiti crude oil and reportedly bound for Ulsan, is a very large crude carrier owned by South Korean shipping giant HMM.If the transit is completed successfully, it would mark the first known crossing by a South Korean supertanker since the outbreak of the war in late February, according to Bloomberg.The Foreign Ministry declined to confirm the vessel’s identity, but said the transit was unrelated to the recent attack on the South Korean-operated bulk carrier HMM Namu, which was struck earlier this month in the strait.The government also did not pay any transit fee or security-related charge publicly demanded by Iran in exchange for safe passage through the waterway, according to the ministry official.Officials further said the vessel had not been operating near Iranian ports, making it unlikely to face possible US sanctions.“We are closely consulting with the United States on important matters,” the ministry official said.Bloomberg also reported that two Chinese tankers attempted to transit the strait along similar routes the same day.One vessel, the Ocean Lily, carrying crude oil from Qatar and Iraq and bound for China’s Quanzhou port, stopped transmitting its location signal Thursday morning. Another tanker, the Yuan Gui Yang, carrying Iraqi crude oil and headed for Guangdong province, reportedly remained in the same waters for several hours.