Foreign Ministry summons Iranian ambassador in Seoul in tit-for-tat move

The Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador in Seoul, shortly after the Korean ambassador in Tehran was summoned by the Iranian foreign ministry over President Yoon Suk Yeol's comments...

A man passes by the Embassy of Iran in Seoul on Thursday, when the Iranian ambassador to Korea was summoned by the Foreign Ministry. Just a day earlier, the Iranian foreign ministry had summoned the Korean ambassador in Tehran to protest comments the Korean president made on Iran during his trip to the United Arab Emirates last week. [YONHAP]

The Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador in Seoul, shortly after the Korean ambassador in Tehran was summoned by the Iranian foreign ministry over President Yoon Suk Yeol's comments . "We have said this repeatedly, there is nothing in the president's comments that were aimed at Korea-Iran relations or Iran's foreign relations," said Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, on Thursday.

Speaking to the Korean military's Akh unit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday, Yoon told the troops, "The UAE's enemy and biggest threat is Iran, while ours is North Korea."

Lim was relaying the message that was conveyed to Iranian Ambassador to Korea Saeed Badamchi Shabestari by First Vice Foreign Ministry Cho Hyun-dong at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Thursday. The summons came a few hours after summons by the Iranian foreign ministry of Korean Ambassador to Iran Yun Kang-hyeon. During this meeting in Tehran, Iran not only protested Yoon's comments made in the United Arab Emirates last week, but took a jab at the frozen Iranian assets in Korean banks. Stressing that Iran has friendly ties with “most Persian Gulf states,” Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Reza Najafi called Yoon’s comments “tantamount to interference in friendly relations and undermining peace and security in the region” in the meeting.

Najafi added that Iran will have to "reconsider its bilateral ties" with Korea for its "failure" to resolve issues regarding the frozen Iranian assets in Korean banks.

Foreign Ministry of Iran. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF IRAN]

Bilateral relations between Seoul and Tehran have frayed in recent years due to Iranian money frozen in two Korean banks because of U.S. sanctions reimposed after former President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear accord with Iran. The Iranian foreign ministry also criticized Yoon's recent comments about looking into developing its own nuclear weapons or requesting the United States redeploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula. Najafi told Yun that Yoon's comments were a "contradiction to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty," and demanded an explanation, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

"The Iranian government's objection regarding the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is completely groundless," Lim said in Seoul on Thursday. "The president's remarks were made with the intention of strengthening the effectiveness of extended deterrence in order to respond to North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats."

Korean Ambassador to Iran Yun Kang-hyeon speaks at an event to commemorate 60 years of relations betwen Korea and Iran at his diplomatic residence in Tehran on Oct. 20, 2022. [YONHAP]

Yoon was in the UAE last week on a state visit. Korea deployed the Akh unit in January 2011 to help train UAE special forces during peace time and protect Korean residents there. It is a symbol of military cooperation between the two countries. The Akh unit's name comes from the Arabic word for "brother."

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with a soldier of the Korean military's Akh unit in the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 15. [NEWS1]

The Foreign Ministry last summoned the ambassador of Iran in Seoul when a Korean tanker and its crew were seized near the strait of Hormuz by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in January 2021.

Observers at the time read the seizure as Tehran pressuring Seoul to unlock the frozen Iranian assets in Korean banks.

Some $7 billion has been held in the Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank since September 2019, when U.S. sanction waivers for Korea's imports of Iranian oil expired.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]