South Korea's Lee rules out military deployment in Middle East conflict

In a world where military commitments are often treated as open-ended obligations, South Korea's President Lee has drawn a deliberate boundary — his country's armed forces will not enter Middle Eastern conflicts. The announcement, made against a backdrop of sustained regional instability and allied pressure, reflects Seoul's recognition that a nation's strategic reach must be proportional to its most pressing responsibilities. With North Korea's nuclear ambitions, China's expanding military posture, and the demands of peninsula defense already consuming South Korea's attention, Lee's statement