French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed Friday to work together to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease global economic uncertainties linked to the war in the Middle East, according to a Seoul summit that followed Macron’s visit to South Korea.
The meeting came after Macron’s first trip to South Korea since taking office in 2017 and as part of an Asia tour that included Japan. The discussions also unfolded amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s increasing frustration with allies over their approach to the Middle East conflict involving Iran and Israel, including the Strait of Hormuz.
At the start of the meeting, Macron told Lee that the two countries could play a role in stabilizing the Middle East, including what he described as Iran’s “chokehold” on the strait and the market shock that has followed, the Associated Press reported. After the talks, Macron and Lee held a joint televised briefing, during which the leaders did not take questions.
In the briefing, Macron emphasized the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and deescalate Middle East animosities. Lee said the two leaders affirmed “their resolves to cooperate to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz,” the report said.
The leaders did not detail how they would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman. The report said the strait is the route through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil usually passes, and that the summit therefore reflected heightened attention on the energy and economic effects of the conflict.
Macron said, “We need to clearly define, at the international level, the conditions for a process to ease the crisis and conflict in the Middle East,” adding, “We need to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.” Lee and Macron also agreed to expand cooperation in technology, energy and other areas, according to the report.
After the briefing, South Korean and French officials signed agreements covering cooperation on nuclear fuel supply chains, a joint investment in an offshore wind project in southern South Korea, and collaboration on critical minerals. The report said South Korea has moved to increase output at its nuclear reactors to mitigate an energy crunch, and that Lee also called for a faster transition to renewable energy, saying the war has exposed the country’s reliance on fossil fuel imports.
The Macron summit reflected the broader diplomatic pressure Washington has directed at allies. In remarks Wednesday, Trump said Americans “don’t need” the strait but that the countries who do “must grab it and cherish it,” and he raised involvement from South Korea, Japan and China.
Trump also previously said in an Easter event at the White House that allies in Asia and China should get involved in reopening the waterway, including comments that South Korea could do it and that Japan and China have oil dependence on the strait, the Associated Press reported. Separately, the report said the United States stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea, and that the deployment is meant to deter potential aggressions from North Korea.
Macron has said reopening the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation is unrealistic, the report added. South Korean officials have said they are in contact with Washington and that Seoul is not considering paying Iran transit fees to secure fuel shipments through the strait.