Korea urges Russia's efforts to 'manage' bilateral ties
Entrance to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
Russia should step up efforts to "manage" bilateral ties with Korea, a foreign ministry official said Thursday, after Moscow warned it could retaliate against Seoul's export restrictions.
Earlier this week, Korea said it will tighten export controls against Russia, adding 682 more items, such as heavy construction equipment, rechargeable batteries, aircraft components, machinery and others, to the list of items that are banned from shipping to Russia and Belarus.
In response, Russia's foreign ministry on Wednesday warned of measures in response, saying they may not necessarily be symmetrical ones.
"We would like to remind (Russia) that managing Korea-Russia relations does not only require effort from our part but also from Russia," the Korean foreign ministry official told reporters.
He added that the Korean government had explained about the export restrictions to Russia before announcing the measures.
The new export regulation, expected to take effect in early 2024, will raise the total number of items on the list to 1,159 from the current 798 items.
The move came as chances are high for those items to be used for military purposes, though they are not classified as strategic items under Korea's export control scheme. (Yonhap)