Ties Between Iran, South Korea Shaken over Frozen Funds

The South Korean ambassador to Tehran announced the delivery of $1.2 million worth of medication to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: South Korean Embassy's Twitter account
The South Korean ambassador to Tehran announced the delivery of $1.2 million worth of medication to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: South Korean Embassy's Twitter account
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Ties Between Iran, South Korea Shaken over Frozen Funds

The South Korean ambassador to Tehran announced the delivery of $1.2 million worth of medication to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: South Korean Embassy's Twitter account
The South Korean ambassador to Tehran announced the delivery of $1.2 million worth of medication to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: South Korean Embassy's Twitter account

Relations between Iran and South Korea have been shaken over funds frozen because of US sanctions.

Iran called on Friday for South Korea to release billions of dollars in frozen funds.

“South Korea’s ban on Iran’s use of its central bank resources to buy basic goods, medicine and humanitarian items is in no way acceptable, and we expect the South Korean government to lift this restriction as soon as possible,” President Hassan Rouhani said, in remarks carried by state news agency IRNA.

He instructed the head of the Iranian central bank to follow up the matter through legal channels and international forums, IRNA said, according to Reuters.

Rouhani did not cite a figure for the frozen funds, but the news agency Borna quoted Hossein Tanhayi, head of the Iran-South Korea chamber of commerce, as saying between $6.5 billion and $9 billion belonging to Iran was blocked in South Korean banks.

“Iran intends to take legal action against this ..., but this is not an easy path and it is time-consuming,” Tanhayi said.

South Korea’s imports of Iranian oil have been zero since May 2019, when the United States revoked waivers which had allowed some countries to continue buying Iranian oil without falling foul of US sanctions.

The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after President Donald Trump withdrew from a deal to lift them in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran calls the US sanctions economic warfare.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in May that preliminary steps had been taken to set up a channel to allow Iran to use funds in South Korea to buy humanitarian goods. Weeks later South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Seoul was sending $500,000 worth of medicine to Iran.



EU Increases Pressure on Türkiye after Arrest of Imamoglu

Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
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EU Increases Pressure on Türkiye after Arrest of Imamoglu

Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)

The European Union is ratcheting up pressure on Türkiye over the detention of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, as tensions in the country escalate two weeks after his arrest.

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos voiced the EU’s strong concern regarding the arrest of Imamoglu.

Kos said that because of what happened in the country, she has cancelled her participation in the diplomatic forum in Antalya which will take place from April 11 to 13 and will not go to Ankara to confer with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

During the parliament’s debate, which focused on the “crackdown on democracy in Türkiye” and the arrest of Imamoglu, Kos said that as a candidate country for EU membership and a member of the Council of Europe, Türkiye is expected to apply the highest democratic standards and practices, including regarding freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections.

She emphasized Türkiye’s strategic importance to Europe, saying “shutting down our channels and areas of cooperation will not benefit anyone, especially the people of Türkiye.”

Also, Emmanouil Kefalogiannis, Chair of the European Parliament’s (EP) Delegation to the EU-Türkiye Joint Parliamentary Committee (KPK), announced he will not attend the committee meeting planned for April 14-15.

EP’s Türkiye Rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor welcomed Kos’s decision to skip the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the EP’s decision to withdraw from the KPK meeting.

On his X account, Amor wrote: “Membership is about democracy. Türkiye’s geopolitical position alone will not be enough to open the doors of the European Union.”

Ankara applied to join the European Union in 1999. But since 2018, accession negotiations have stalled, due to the deteriorating state of the country’s democracy and its relations with the EU.

Meanwhile, the Turkish police detained 11 people suspected of spreading calls for a one-day shopping boycott as part of an ongoing protest against the arrest of Imamoglu.

Main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel had earlier called for a “no shopping day,” scheduled for Wednesday April 2 only, to support 301 students who have been arrested and detained for taking part in the protests.

On Thursday, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a decision to release the 11 suspects, who are not allowed to leave the country.

Among those detained was actor Cem Yigit Uzumoglu, who played Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in the Netflix docuseries “Rise of Empires: Ottoman,” the Actors’ Union said.

Earlier, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had issued arrest warrants for 16 suspects in an investigation into “hatred and discrimination” and “inciting hatred and hostility” among the public, state news agency Anadolu reported. Five of them were later released.

At the headquarters of the Republican People's Party (CHP) in Ankara, Ozel said he will organize a rally every weekend in support of Imamoglu.