The informed source said on condition of anonymity on Saturday that South Korea and Iran plan to hold working-level consultations next month in Seoul to discuss ways to resolve long dispute over Iranian assets frozen in the East Asian country under the United States' unilateral sanctions.
Mutual ties between Iran and South Korea remain unraveled over 7 billion dollars frozen in two Korean banks under the illegal sanctions.
As talks in Vienna, Austria to remove anti-Iran sanctions and revive the 2015 nuclear deal entered important phases and the Iranian officials underlined the need for lifting sanctions to reach an agreement, the issue of Iranian frozen assets in Korean banks have been highlighted once more.
The source told Yonhap, "The working groups are expected to mainly discuss details of the payment method of the Iranian assets if the US grants sanctions relief."
"They could talk further on the possibility of resuming oil imports from Iran once sanctions are lifted," the source added.
The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) has delivered a letter of intent (LOI) in the framework of Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), asking South Korea to return the frozen assets.
According to an official in the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean government received the letter in September and examined the ways to resolve the dispute.
It is worth mentioning that Iran can file a lawsuit against South Korea if Seoul refrains from resolving the issue six months after receiving the letter.
Iran exported 7.8 billion dollars of crude oil to south Korea in 2017. Seoul also exported industrial equipment, home appliances and car spare part to Tehran.
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