South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun will pay an official visit to Tehran to discuss bilateral issues, particularly the release of billions of dollars of Iranian funds frozen by Seoul as a result of US sanctions.
“Chung Sye-Kyun will travel to Tehran on April 11 and 12 to meet officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and hold talks about bilateral issues, including illegal restrictions placed in the way of access to the Central Bank’s [of Iran] resources in this country,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday.
He added that technical coordination is currently underway by the two countries’ officials to finalize the details of the visit.
Khatibzadeh said the prime minister plans to meet with Iran's First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ali Larijani, who is an advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Yonhap news agency also on Friday quoted a press release by Chung's office as confirming the visit, which is the first such trip by a South Korean premier in 44 years.
The office said, "Through this visit, Prime Minister Chung will create an opportunity to enhance traditional friendly relations between South Korea and Iran, and develop them in a future-oriented manner."
Iranian authorities have said on several occasions that they expect South Korea to do more on the release of nearly $8.5 billion blocked illegally in two South Korean banks under the pretext of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Chung's visit to Iran follows Tehran's release of a Korean oil tanker and its captain about three months after its seizure over alleged oil pollution.