China News Service, April 6th. According to Korean media reports, in response to the seizure of the South Korean transport ship "Korea Chemical", Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzad said on the 5th local time that relevant investigations have been carried out. Moving in the direction of helping the captain and the vessel, the Ministry of Justice is also actively addressing related issues.
On January 4, the Korean transport ship "Korea Chemical", which set off from Saudi Arabia to the UAE, was seized by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf.
There were 20 people on board, including 5 Korean crew members.
South Korean media believe that the arrest of the ship is related to the freezing of Iranian assets in South Korea; Iran stated that it is due to marine pollution and that South Korea should avoid “politicizing” the arrest of the ship.
Khatibzad said that the South Korean side sincerely requested the Iranian side to release the detained ship, and the captain of the ship had no criminal record.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has submitted its opinions on the case to the Ministry of Justice, which will make the final decision.
On the other hand, Korean media reported that South Korean Prime Minister Ding Shi-kyun will visit Iran in the near future to solve the problems of Iran’s detention of South Korean ships and the release of the captain.
In this regard, Khatibzad said that Iran welcomes the visit of the South Korean Prime Minister and hopes to use this as an opportunity to resolve the issue of Iran’s funds being frozen in South Korea.
The US government unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in May 2018, and subsequently restarted and added a series of sanctions against Iran.
Affected by this, two South Korean banks have frozen approximately US$7 billion in Iranian assets since September 2019.
Iran has repeatedly asked South Korea not to freeze Iranian funds in South Korea due to US sanctions.