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In early January of last year, a Korean merchant ship, the Korea Chemi, was captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Middle East Strait.

The captain and crew were released after being detained for a long time, and the shipping company filed a lawsuit against the government for damages. 



Reporter Bae Jun-woo reports.



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The 19 crew members of the Korea Chemi were released after a month of detention, and the ship and the captain were released after 95 days.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also boasted that the release was achieved through close diplomatic efforts.



However, it has been confirmed that the Korea Chemiho shipping company has filed a lawsuit against the government.



According to the complaint obtained by SBS, the shipping company was forced into a compulsory settlement and was released only after paying a large amount of damages.



In the process, the shipping company claimed that it suffered a loss of 2.6 billion won because the government did not fulfill its relief obligations.



[Kwak Min-wook / CEO of Chemiho Korea: I thought that the government would actively come to the negotiating table for something to protect our people and property...

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I checked the actual agreement between Iran and the shipping company.



The shipping company acknowledges the Iranian claim that the sea is polluted, and contains a deterrent that all problems that arise in the future must be taken care of.



Still, Iran failed to explain how and how polluted the sea was.



[Shin Dong-chan / Attorney: Absolutely, it is difficult to see it as an agreement reached as a result of any free expression of intention or negotiation between legitimate equal parties.]



The government has significantly lowered the settlement amount demanded by Iran in its recent lawsuit response, He claimed to have helped, such as changing the target of consultations for Korea from 'Iranian Environment Agency' to 'Iranian Port Authority'.



The shipping company, which suffered enormous damage from the detention, said it had to sell the Korean Chemi, and said that they wanted to fight through this lawsuit over the extent of the state's responsibility for relief amidst international sanctions.