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Yesterday (4th), the government officially protested against Iran regarding the detention of a Korean ship by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and demanded that the detention be lifted quickly.
All 20 sailors, including our people, were said to be safe.
First, reporter Kim Hye-young reports.
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Several high-speed boats closely follow behind the Korean national ship'Korea Chemie'.
They even mobilize military helicopters to search the ship and stop the ship.
This is the situation at the time of detention that was revealed yesterday by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The Korean Chemi, departing from Saudi Arabia and heading to the UAE, was detained while passing through the waters near Oman that afternoon, and is now being investigated at Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.
Iran says a ship carrying 7,200 tons of chemicals has caused marine pollution and is being investigated.
[Izmail Makizade/Hormuz Vice Minister of Maritime Affairs: The ship was arrested at the Port of Bandar Abbas, as ordered by local judicial authorities.] An
Iranian government spokesman argued that the capture of a Korean ship in Iran was a hostage
act.
He dismissed it and refuted that US $7 billion in Iranian funds, which are currently tied to South Korea, were held hostage because of US sanctions against Iran.
It is said that all 20 sailors, including five Koreans, including the Korean captain, were safe.
[Side Badamchi Shavestari/Iran Ambassador to Korea: (Are the sailors safe?) All are safe.]
Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Iranian Ambassador Shavestari to the Republic of Korea to find out what happened and make an official protest.
The first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong-Geon is scheduled to continue discussions on the 10th by leaving the working-level delegation headed by the head of the Middle East region to Iran tomorrow.