Iran, S. Korea to Start Talks on Locked Assets

Seoul and Tehran are reportedly mulling holding the first working-level meeting this month to resolve issues regarding Iran's assets frozen in South Korean banks due to the 2018 US economic sanctions.
The Korean Foreign Ministry said on Friday that First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun explained to US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley by phone earlier in the day Seoul’s plan to host its first working-level discussion with Iran in a follow-up to his agreement with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri Kani last month, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Officials from South Korea and Iran are reportedly in discussions on the specific date of the meeting, as well as the level and size of the delegates. The session will most likely be slated for mid-February.
How the locked Iranian money will be sent to Tehran if the US sanctions are lifted will likely feature as a major agenda for the discussions.
Iran, which sits on the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, had been a key oil supplier to resource-poor South Korea and in turn imported industrial equipment, household appliances and vehicle parts from Seoul.
South Korea imported $7.8 billion worth of oil from Iran in 2017, but has stopped Iranian purchases since 2019 due to US economic blockade that bans the Islamic Republic's oil exports, according to the data by the Korea International Trade Association.
The release of the frozen assets requires approval from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Tehran, however, says that the Korean government has to unfreeze Iran's frozen funds, regardless of the outcome of the talks in Vienna, as Iranian officials believe the unilateral US restrictions cannot justify Seoul’s delays in repayment of its debts to Tehran.
South Korea's hesitation in repaying its debts to Iran has intensified the negative impact of the American sanctions on the two country's bilateral trade. According to Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, two-way trade plunged from $8 billion in the fiscal year to March 2018 to $460 million during the first three quarters of the current Iranian year.