ED Intelligence on seizure

Gov't should make diverse diplomatic efforts to find solution

The government had reportedly acquired intelligence about the possibility of Iran seizing a Korean vessel a month before a tanker was actually seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This was reported to Cheong Wa Dae while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also distributed the information to relevant missions in five major Middle East nations close to Iran.

This shows the seizure had been warned about beforehand yet the government failed to take any preventive measures. In other words, the government could have prevented the incident from occurring if it had taken swift countermeasures, upon receiving the intelligence. What the government did was just send official letters to the overseas missions, calling for close monitoring of the area.

Besides the intelligence, there had been numerous signs pointing to Iran's possible seizure of a vessel since relations between Seoul and Tehran have continued to worsen amid U.S. sanctions on the Middle East state. We wonder why the Cheonghae Unit, dispatched to protect Korean vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, was not ordered to guard the Hankuk Chemi tanker. The Iranian military might not have tried to seize the tanker if the ROK Navy destroyer was there.

Tehran has continued to heap criticism on Seoul. In 2019, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for the release of Iranian funds held by two Korean banks ― the Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank. He also sent personal letter to President Moon Jae-in last year toward that end. While criticizing Korea's dispatch of the Cheonghae Unit to the Gulf, Iranian Ambassador to Seoul Saeed Badamchi Shabestari even threatened to sever diplomatic ties with South Korea.

The government should have convened emergency meetings of the National Security Council with the attendance of the relevant authorities. If necessary, it should have sought collaboration with the U.S. administration.

Cheong Wa Dae should have sought “preventive diplomacy” by sending, for instance, high-level officials to mend soured ties between the two countries. It needs to learn a lesson from the case of Park Geun-hye administration which set up a “comprehensive partnership relationship” with Iran to find a breakthrough in deadlocked relations. Proactive and multifaceted diplomatic efforts are essential to prevent any recurrence of such an incident.

Iran seems to have seized the Korean tanker in apparent retaliation for Seoul's freezing of the $7 billion in Iranian funds for its oil exports to Korea. Yet Seoul is not to blame for this because it came as a result of U.S. policy to strengthen sanctions on Iran in 2018.

The government should first clarify its stance to Iran and persuade it to release the tanker and its crewmembers at the earliest possible date. If needed, the government should seek the cooperation of the incoming Joe Biden administration to settle the matter. Belatedly, a South Korean delegation arrived in Iran Thursday, while Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kuk is also scheduled to visit Teheran, Sunday. We hope they will return home with good news of Iran's release of the tanker and its crew.