Iran–South Korea relations
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Iran and South Korea have had
diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
since 1962. Throughout history, the two countries have maintained a normal relationship despite
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
's close relationship with the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's close relationship with
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
(making Iran one of the few countries in the world which maintains good relations with both
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
). However, many South Koreans disapprove of Iran's nuclear program and its open alliance with North Korea, sometimes leading the South Korean government to sanction Iran.


Early and ancient history

Korea's and Iran's long-running relationship started with cultural exchanges date back to the
Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...
era, more than 1,600 years ago by the way of the Silk Road. A dark blue glass was found in the Cheonmachong Tomb, one of Silla's royal tombs unearthed in Gyeongju. An exotic golden sword was found in Gyerim-ro, a street also located in Gyeongju. These are all relics that are presumed to be sent to Silla from ancient
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
through the Silk Road. It was only the Goryeo Dynasty during King Hyeongjong's reign when trade with Persia was officially recorded in Korean history. But in academic circles, it is presumed that both countries had active cultural exchanges during the 7th century Silla era which means the relationship between Korea and Iran began more than 1500 years ago. "We have a myth in an ancient Persian book (The Kush Nama ) that tells of a Persian prince who went to Silla in the seventh century and got married to a Korean princess, thus forming a royal marriage."
Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges. Park was the fi ...
said during a Festival celebrating Iran and Korea's 1500 years of shared cultural ties. She then said, "this is actually quite a good plot for making a film together." Her suggestion was received with a lot of applause. Other items uncovered during the excavation include a silver bowl engraved with an image of the Persian goddess Anahita; a golden dagger from Persia; clay busts; and figurines portraying Persian merchants. ''Samguk Sagi''—the official chronicle of the Three Kingdoms era, compiled in 1145—contains further descriptions of commercial items sold by Persian merchants and widely used in Silla society. The influence of
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
culture was profoundly felt in other ways as well, most notably in the fields of music, visual arts, and literature. The popularity of Iranian designs in Korea can be seen in the widespread use of pearl-studded roundels and symmetrical, zoomorphic patterns. An ancient Persian epic poem, the Kushnameh, contains detailed descriptions of Silla.


Relations with Imperial Iran

South Korea and Iran established relations in August 1962. The Iranian Embassy in South Korea opened in April 1967.


List of Ambassador of South Korea in Iran


Nuclear program

In June 2007, South Korea's then-foreign minister, Song Min-soon, supported a diplomatic solution to the international disagreement over
Iran's nuclear program The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facili ...
. In November 2008, South Korea's next foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan, said that Iran needs to reassure the international community of the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. According to
UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...
Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean, "the Iranian foreign minister stressed that his country is pushing for a nuclear program for peaceful purposes." Iran's nuclear program and its alliance with North Korea have been under subject of criticism in South Korea, sometimes affected relations. South Korea unveiled sanctions against Iran in 2010 to show its open disapproval.


Economic relationship

While politically not close, Iran and South Korea enjoy much closer economic ties with bilateral trade totaling roughly $10 billion in 2008."Iran Calls For Joint Projects With South Korea In Afghanistan," Fars News Agency, March 18, 2009 Despite disagreements over Iran’'s nuclear enrichment activity, Vice President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency Hong Ki-Wha and the head of Iran's Investment and Technical and Economic Assistances Organization, Mohammad Khaza'i, signed a memorandum of understanding in April 2007, in which they agreed to form a committee with the aim of boosting trade between their two countries. Kim Sung Gun, South Korea's parliamentary delegation head to Iran in March 2007 noted that Korean companies are eager to invest in Iran and added that he hopes the two countries can encourage bilateral investment. According to a Middle East Economic Survey, Iran exported 157,000 barrels of crude oil per day to South Korea in July 2009. Though South Korea has decreased total crude oil imports from the Middle East by 14.7% compared to the previous year, Iran remains South Korea's fourth largest source of crude oil. In May 2009, South Korean ministers participated in a major conference on foreign investment in Iran. South Korea also attended the Iranian gas forum on September 26–27, 2009 alongside Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, and Malaysia. According to a report by the
United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
, as of April 2010 there were three South Korean firms active in Iran's hydrocarbon sector between 2005 and 2009 that received US government contracts totaling roughly $880 million. These were the Daelim Industrial Company, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and GS Engineering and Construction. On July 3, 2010, Iran the
National Iranian Oil Company The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; fa, شرکت ملّی نفت ایران, Sherkat-e Melli-ye Naft-e Īrān) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of ...
(NIOC) cancelled a $1.2 billion contract with GS Engineering and Construction, accusing the firm of failing to fulfill its obligations. The South Korean company had been tasked with removing hydrogen sulfide from gas pumped from Iran's
South Pars gas field The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural-gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is by far the world's largest natural gas field, IEA, World Energy Outlook 2008 - Chapter 12 - Natural gas resources and production prospects, p.298 ...
after signing an agreement in October 2009. Iran has about local 2,500 SME trading partners in South Korea. It said that more than 600 out of the 2,500 firms see their ratio of exports to Iran exceed 50 percent.


Diplomatic and military cooperation

South Korea and Iran have continuously disagreed on the latter's nuclear enrichment activities. In January 2007, Ban Ki-Moon, South Korea's former foreign minister, assumed the position of UN Secretary General. Since assuming office, Ban has supported a number of sanctions against the Islamic Republic for failing to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency, further straining relations between the two countries. Impediments notwithstanding, South Korea and Iran have had a number of official meetings to discuss bilateral trade and political cooperation and have signed several memorandums of understanding, including on media cooperation, trade-investment, and technical cooperation between the two. During a March 2009 meeting between National Assembly Speaker of South Korea Kim Hyong-o and Iranian Judiciary Chief
Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from Arabic word p ...
Hashemi Shahroudi, Kim expressed his hope that Iran and South Korea expand parliamentary cooperation. That same month, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister in Asia and Pacific Affairs suggested that Iran and South Korea should cooperate to help establish security in Afghanistan. In November 2009, Iran announced that it was prepared to aid in resolving the Korean peninsula crisis. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Iran welcomes mutual understanding and agreement between South and North Korea to promote peace and stability in the region. During a meeting with South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-Jon at the end of October 2009, Mottaki said that "mutual cooperation has not been balanced in all fields and we hope to be able to make it more balanced." The South Korean senior diplomat responded that "we want promotion of ties in all economic fields and implementing joint projects and deepening bilateral cooperation in direction of mutual interests." On January 6, 2010, the head of the Iran-South Korea parliamentary friendship group, Hossein Hashemi, and Speaker Kim Hyong-o met in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
in order to discuss ways to foster bilateral cooperation, particularly, in the economic and energy sectors. During the meeting, Hyong-o referred to the ample potentials existing on both sides for increasing mutual cooperation and expressed satisfaction over the growth of bilateral ties between the two countries. On Iran's nuclear issue, he stressed Iran's right to use peaceful nuclear energy, and added "all countries are entitled to use peaceful nuclear energy and we believe Iran's nuclear program is for civilian purposes." In April 2010, in an effort to improve the two countries' "mutual understanding and acquaintance," South Korea and Iran agreed to exchange news and media teams and enhance current levels of educational and technical collaboration. The decision to expand cooperation in the field of media was taken following a meeting between Islamic Republic News Agency Directory Ali-Akbar Javanfekr and Lee Seung Jung, the head of the South Korea Press Association. Although "high politics" ties between the two countries are not especially developed, Seoul and
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
have taken steps to engage each other in cultural spheres. In May 2009, the South Korean Vice-Cultural Minister Jae-min Shin and the South Korean Ambassador to Tehran Kim Young-mok attended a ceremony entitled "Korea, Sparkling Night in Iran" where both officials expressed the hope that such events would bring about improved political, economic and cultural relations between South Korea and Iran. In October 2009, South Korea's Pusan International Film festival will host two Iranian filmmakers, Payment Hagani and
Mahmoud Kalari Mahmoud Kalari (Persian: محمود کلاری; born in Tehran), is an Iranian cinematographer, screenwriter, film director and photographer, who has worked with number of renowned Iranian directors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Asghar ...
. The Iranian filmmakers will present their films as well as participate in an educational workshop for aspiring Asian directors. Furthermore, the Iran National Library and Archives (INLA) has agreed to work to increase bilateral cooperation with the National Library of outhKorea. In March 2010, INLA Director Ali-Akbar Ashari met with his South Korean counterpart, Chul-min Mo, to sign an agreement pledging to exchange experience in staff training and library science, and to hold book fairs.


Tensions

While Iran and South Korea are generally friendly, the two countries nonetheless have sporadic tensions. In 2020, South Korea decided to freeze all Iranian assets in the country in fear it could be financed for the nuclear program of Iran. In response, Iran threatened to take legal attack on South Korea's goods, leading to Iranian ambassador being called by Seoul to complain over the perceived threat from Iran.


See also

* Iran-North Korea relations * Seizure a South Korean vessel * Tehran Street


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iran-South Korea relations
Korea, South South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
Bilateral relations of South Korea