South Korea, Iran summon ambassadors after ‘enemy’ comments | CPT PPP Coverage

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South Korea summoned the Iranian ambassador to Seoul on Thursday Saeed Badamchi Shabestari as the diplomatic fallout between the two countries continues.

Shabestari was summoned in response to Tehran summoning South Korea’s ambassador Yun Kang-Hyeon the day before.

What happened: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s four-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) concluded Tuesday. The two countries signed numerous energy and military agreements during the trip, most notably a $30 billion pledge from the UAE to invest in South Korean industries. 

On Sunday, Yeol visited a South Korean military unit stationed in the UAE. This is where the trouble began. 

“The security of the UAE, our brother nation, is our security,” he told the troops, as reported by South Korean media. ”The UAE’s enemy and biggest threat is Iran, while ours is North Korea.” 

Iranian diplomats immediately reacted angrily to this. The Iranian Embassy in Seoul put out a statement calling Yeol’s comments “baseless” and “interventionist” and demanded an explanation. 

For its part, the South Korean Foreign Ministry has sought to downplay the incident. 

“We hope there is no over-interpretation of his comments,” they said in a statement, as reported by Korea JoongAng Daily.

The issue is not going away, however. On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the South Korean ambassador over the issue, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. 

South Korea did the same to the Iranian ambassador in Seoul on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Why it matters: This is not the first instance of trouble in Iran-South Korea relations. In 2021, the Iranian navy seized a South Korean ship and held it for three months. The ship allegedly caused water pollution.

The incident may have been related to the $7 billion in proceeds of Iranian oil sales that South Korea is holding. The East Asian country will not release the funds to Iran due to US sanctions on the Islamic Republic. 

South Korea used to purchase Iranian oil, but stopped in 2018 due to the Trump administration’s reimposition of the sanctions after leaving the Iran nuclear deal. 

Iran International reported in December that the funds were not close to being released, despite the Iranian government’s efforts. 

Relations between South Korea and Iran are otherwise cordial. South Korean Ambassador Yun Kang-hyeon met with Iranian water industry leaders earlier this month, according to an Instagram post from the South Korean Embassy in Tehran. 

The visit occurred before Yoon’s remarks. 

Know more: Iran also maintains good relations with North Korea. The two countries are both supplying Russia with weapons in the war in Ukraine, US officials have said.