ROK faces US pressure over anti-Iran sanctions

SEOUL - With the United States stepping up pressure worldwide to join its campaign to punish Iran over its controversial nuclear program, Republic of Korea (ROK) faces an increasingly tough choice between the country's economic and political interests.

A three-day Seoul trip by the US delegation, led by Robert Einhorn, the US State Department's special adviser for non- proliferation and arms control, left a clear message to a staunch US ally.

"We are urging (our partners) to reduce their purchase of crude oil from Iran and their financial dealings with the central bank of Iran," Einhorn, who leaves Seoul Wednesday, said a day ago in a meeting with ROK's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-Shin.

Washington recently slapped fresh economic sanctions on Iran by banning financial institutions doing business with Iran's central bank from the US market, an attempt to cut off Iran's oil revenue and contain its alleged nuclear ambition.

Its push has been only partially successful. While Japan, another key US ally, expressed tentative support for the anti- Iran sanctions, China and India, major importers of Iranian oil, rejected them.

For ROK, a country entirely dependent on foreign oil, trade restrictions on the Middle East country that supplies some 10 percent of its crude oil imports raise serious economic concerns.

A reduction in Iranian oil imports is feared to send oil prices higher, which will add to the government's headaches as officials here struggle to rein in rising consumer prices.

ROK's oil refiners and some 2,300 domestic firms exporting Iran will be among the hardest hit.

Trade volume between the two countries reached $18.5 billion last year, a 60 percent jump from the previous year.

Concerned about possible economic fallouts, ROK officials have pledged to do their best to minimize adverse effects of the sanctions.

"We will closely work with the US to prevent extreme situations, such as an absolute ban on exports to Iran," Hong Seok- woo, minister of knowledge economy, said Wednesday.

In a government statement issued Tuesday, Seoul also said Washington has vowed to "fully consider interests of ROK and ROK's companies."  

ROK, however, has limited room for maneuver.

The country needs to keep the United States on its side as it deals with the new leadership in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) amid lingering tension following two deadly border incidents in 2010.

Observers say it is not an opportune moment for Seoul to go against the will of its ally, whose political and military clout in ROK far exceeds that of any other country.

Einhorn did not fail to mention the DPRK.

"(ROK) knows that the situations in Iran and in DPRK are related. I think progress in one will help us achieve progress on another," the diplomat was quoted as saying at the Tuesday's meeting. "That's why it is so important that our two governments work closely together on this Iran problem," he added.

The foreign ministry here rejected claims that Einhorn's remarks linking Pyongyang to Tehran were meant to put additional pressure on Seoul.

"It seems like an unnecessarily exaggerated interpretation," ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je said of the claims.

Experts can afford to be more straightforward.

"ROK needs support of the international community in resolving nuclear issues of DPRK, so it needs to cooperate with the US on Iranian issues," said Seongkeun Choi, a senior researcher at Hyundai Research Institute.

"And the US really needs its ally, ROK, to support the sanctions right now."