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Korean Chemiho sailors who were detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards earlier last month will be released after a month. The Iranian government has allowed 19 of the 20 sailors detained, excluding the captain, to leave the country.
The first news, reporter Lee Seong-hoon first reports.
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decision was made for release of Korean Chemiho crew members who were detained by the Iranian government.
It's been 29 days since he was detained.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the Iranian government has decided to first lift the detention of 19 sailors except for the captain.
The sailors on board were 20 Koreans, including 5 Korean captains and 15 foreign sailors, and all the rest of the crew were able to leave the country with only the captain left with the ship.
Earlier, on the 4th of last month, the Korean Chemie was captured and detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the waters near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian side claimed that our ships loaded with chemicals caused massive marine pollution, but the analysis was dominated by complaints about Iranian funding, which was frozen in South Korea by US sanctions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The two countries sympathize with the restoration of traditional friendly relations by resolving the frozen won fund problem."
As the US's cooperation is needed to lift the frozen funds, some analyzes say that Iran has taken the release action in anticipation of improving relations with the US administration.