▲ Choi Jong-Geon, 1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the emergency meeting of the Foreign Transportation Day Committee
Although the government is preparing to dispatch a working-level bargaining delegation to the field so that the Korean ships detained in Iran can be released early, the Iranian side has responded that it does not have to come, and whether it will succeed.
It is pointed out that even if the delegation is dispatched to the country, there is a possibility that the Iranian side may come out lukewarm in discussions saying that it is a'technical issue', so there may be limits to immediate tangible results.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam said at a regular briefing yesterday (5th), "In the earliest possible time, a working-level delegation headed by the local director as the working group will be dispatched to Iran and try to resolve this issue locally through bilateral negotiations with Iran." Revealed.
Accordingly, the government working-level delegation, headed by the head of the African Middle East Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Go Gyeong-seok, is pushing ahead with the direction of departing for Tehran, Iran, as early as tonight.
However, it is also expected that the Iranian government will be postponed by publicly stating that a visit from the Korean delegation is virtually unnecessary.
According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Hativjade said in a comment that a diplomatic visit is not necessary because the issue of ship detention will be proceeded by legal proceedings by judicial authorities. Revealed.
As a result, it is pointed out that it was prematurely announced that the dispatch of the delegation was announced in a hurry with the Iranian side not even finalizing discussions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to promote the departure of the delegation through continuous consultations with Iran.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "This vessel detention is an important issue that is directly related to the safety of the people and the protection of assets, and we will continue to discuss with Iran on dispatch of a working-level delegation to understand and inspect the site situation."
However, Iran has always insisted that the detention of Korean vessels is a "completely technical issue" and that a complaint against the vessel in connection with maritime pollution has only entered the Iranian Maritime Administration and initiated judicial proceedings.
According to this logic, the Iranian side is likely to come out saying that'there is no need to discuss matters regarding domestic judicial proceedings with the South Korean side'.
Moreover, unlike Korea, Iran has a holiday every Thursday and Friday.
For this reason, even if the delegation leaves the country tonight on Wednesday, it may not be easy to even schedule negotiations as Iran will be on holiday from the next day.
A diplomatic source said, "We need more consultations with Iran, and we will make a schedule for the delegation visit to see the situation," he said. "The number of days to visit Iran has not been decided yet."
(Photo = Yonhap News)