The U.S. Embassy in Korea Intruding in Korea’s Internal Affairs?

On Dec. 8, three officials of the U.S. Embassy in South Korea brought on public criticism by directly pressuring three domestic companies, including DSME E&R, that have business relations with Iran. This was the day after Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department’s Special Adviser for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, visited South Korea and openly demanded that the South Korean government increase sanctions against Iran. The embassy officials, who are with the embassy’s economic department, visited the companies and reportedly asked about the companies’ trade relationships with Iran and future business plans with the country. The companies were reportedly perplexed by their actions, but DSME E&R, which mainly develops natural resources overseas, responded to the officials by saying, “We do not have plans to invest in Iran due to strict sanctions.” It seems that the company submitted to the embassy’s pressure and withdrew from its business plans.

The U.S. Embassy in South Korea frequently interacts with domestic companies to promote economic cooperation with U.S. companies. However, the recent interaction was an attempt to cut off business relations with Iran, which is in line with America’s strengthening of sanctions against the country. The U.S. ignored the tradition of going through the corresponding country to ask for companies’ cooperation in sanctions. An official with the U.S. Embassy in South Korea stated, “We visited the three companies to notify them of our new sanctions against Iran in the same context as how we notified the South Korean government,” which supports the fact that the embassy directly pressured the Korean companies.*

Iran is strongly suspected of developing nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment and is closely connected with North Korea in developing nuclear weapons. We cannot circumvent cooperating with U.S. sanctions as we struggle with dealing with North Korea. Our government is expected to follow the U.S.’s wishes and announce additional sanctions against Iran. But despite our government’s expected efforts, the U.S. Embassy in Korea still went ahead and directly pressured our companies. Their actions are intended to pressure our government, which is assessing the level of sanctions against Iran. They ignore our sovereignty. We hope that the U.S. government is not intending to intrude in our internal affairs through the Korean-American Ambassador Sung Kim’s inauguration.

*This quote, while accurately translated, could not be verified.