Korea’s exports to Iran tumbled in August, the government said yesterday, amid moves by Seoul to shut down the Seoul branch office of an Iranian bank following U.S. demands to honor a UN sanctions resolution on the Middle Eastern nation.
The amount of Korean exports to Iran for the first 20 days of August came to $135 million, compared to $364 million in July and $459 million in June, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
“We could not see any significant drop in exports until July, as we continued to ship goods under previous arrangements,” a ministry official said. “But the exports certainly began to drop since the beginning of August.”
However, imports from Iran for the first 20 days of last month amounted to $597 million, up from $450 million for the entire month of July.
The drop in exports apparently resulted from Korean exporters fearing a possible suspension of financial transactions with Iran.
The government is expected to announce measures to implement the UN resolution on Iran later this month, which is expected to include the suspension of the Seoul branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat.
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