According to Yonhap News Agency on the 13th, in order to promote the early release of the detained tanker Korean Chemical and its crew, a South Korean government delegation went to Iran to negotiate.
However, the consultation was fruitless, only confirming the differences in positions between the two sides. The Korean delegation will return home on the 14th.
According to the report, Choi Jong, the first official (deputy minister) of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Iran from 10 to 12 this month.
He met with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif, Deputy Foreign Minister Araghi and Abdur Naser Hemati, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran and other people from all walks of life to seize the tanker and Iranian funds in South Korea. Consultations on issues such as freezing.
On the 13th, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the result of Choi Jong-jian’s visit to Iraq that the South Korean government will continue to negotiate with Iran on the issue of lifting the arrest of the ship on the basis of the visit, and actively provide consular assistance to the crew until the incident is resolved.
According to the report, although Choi Jong-kyung-jin solemnly protested against Iran’s detention of South Korean crew and tankers and demanded the early release of the ship, Iran insisted that the detention of South Korean tankers involved technical issues related to marine pollution, and promised to promote judicial procedures fairly and quickly, provide humanitarian treatment to the crew, and arrange consular visits.
The Korean National Daily believes that this situation seems to have a long-term development trend.
In response to Iran’s dissatisfaction with South Korea’s freezing of Iranian funds in South Korea on the grounds of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Choi Jong-jian stressed that South Korea is closely linked to the financial system of the United States, and in order to maximize the use of the funds of the won, it is inevitable to negotiate with the United States.
However, the Korean National Daily believes that from the standpoint of the South Korean government, the biggest problem is that it failed to negotiate smoothly with the United States.
The South Korean government hopes that after the Biden administration takes office on January 20, the United States will consider returning to the Iran nuclear agreement, so that the issue of Iranian funds frozen by sanctions can be resolved.
The report also mentioned that it cannot be ignored that the foreign policy of the United States government is continuous.
