South Korean government walking a tightrope over Iran sanctions

Posted on : 2010-09-09 13:57 KST Modified on : 2010-09-09 13:57 KST
Ministries have issued differing interpretations of the sanctions based on their respective relations with the U.S. and Iran
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By Lee Je-hun, Staff writer

 

The official title of the comprehensive sanctions on Iran announced by the government on Wednesday is the “Government Announcement Regarding Execution of the U.N. Security Council Resolution (1929) on Iran.” Analysts have interpreted this to mean measures are meant to execute the U.N. Security Council resolution rather than become independent sanctions enacted by the South Korean government.

Additional explanations by high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) and Ministry of Strategy and Finance regarding the nature of the announcement, however, were at odds.

A high-ranking MOFAT official said, “The announcement was of independent measures reflecting the most South Korea could do after comprehensively judging the U.N. Security Council resolution decision and advisories.”

A high-ranking Ministry of Strategy and Finance official, however, said, “The measures were to execute the U.N. Security Council resolution.”

Why does this division exist? It could be interpreted as a reflection of the differing position of the Foreign Ministry, which prioritizes the United States, which is encouraging the strengthening of international sanctions on Iran, and the South Korea-U.S. alliance, and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which prioritizes oil imports and economic cooperation with Iran. This is also the fault of the government pursuing the realistically impossible goal of maintaining economic ties with Iran even after accepting the U.S. request to place sanctions on Tehran.

A high-ranking government official said that in considering the sanctions announced Wednesday, the government strongly considered four factors: actively participating in international non-proliferation efforts, responding as an extension of the North Korean nuclear issue since the Iran nuclear issue and North Korean nuclear issue are connected, playing the role of a responsible nation in the international community and minimizing the damage to legal business and trade between South Korea and Iran.

Since the U.N. Security Council’s adoption on June 9 of Resolution 1929, placing sanctions on Iran, and the U.S. government’s own announcement of comprehensive sanctions on Iran on July 1, the U.S. and Iranian governments have made simultaneously demands the South Korean government could not accept.

The United States has been openly pressuring South Korea to adopt the strongest independent sanctions possible, while the Iranian government has repeatedly warned it would retaliate if sanctions were leveled. With the announcement of comprehensive sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, the government wants to walk a fine line, but one small mistake and it could find itself in a difficult position between the United States and Iran. 

Government officials have also issued conflicting statements about the strength, effectiveness and additional measures pertaining to the sanctions. A high-ranking Foreign Ministry official said the sanctions would be at a similar level to independent sanctions put in place by the EU and Japan, and that the government had announced what South Korea could do after accepting as much as it could the U.N. Security Council resolution decision and the council advisory that left enforcement up to member nation discretion.

Another key government official, however, said that formally, the announced sanctions match those put in place by the EU and Japan, but if you look at the announcement closely, you’ll see that of the sanction targets, there are few that have much substantive business with Korea.

The government’s self-divided, dithering attitude, however, is receiving much criticism as it could bring more losses than benefits. A former high-ranking figure who asked to be nameless said the Lee Myung-bak government is generating a lot of debt with Obama administration regarding sanctions on North Korea after the sinking of the Cheonan and delaying the timing of the transfer of wartime operational command. He said the government could not ignore the strong US request for sanctions on Iran, but as a sovereign nation, it would weaken South Korea’s diplomatic position. The Peace Building Center of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) has criticized the sanctions as signifying the general bankruptcy of the Lee administration‘s foreign policy by having a debilitating effect on security and fatally harming the economy, despite security and economics being the two axis of the global diplomacy espoused by the government.

  

  

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