History of bilateral political relations between Iran and South Korea

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in October 1962, and before the establishment of the Iranian Embassy in Seoul, Iran's Embassy in Tokyo was responsible for coordinating relations with South Korea. With the establishment of the embassy and the subsequent increase in the movement of high-ranking officials of the two countries, the ground was laid for the further development of economic relations and cooperation. In November 1975, the first joint economic and technical commission of the two countries was held and preparations were made for the visit of the Foreign Minister (1976) and the Prime Minister of Korea (1977) to Iran.

Relations between the two countries after the victory of the revolution took two different trends:

The Korean government was one of the first countries to recognize the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, while retaining its ambassador in Tehran, expressed its desire to expand relations, but during this period, our embassy in Seoul continued to its activities in chargé d’affaires level.

B: The non-adoption of hostile positions and the non-participation in the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran and the industrial and technical developments in Korea created the idea in the Islamic Republic of Iran that it could enter into a deal with Korea to provide some of our country's needs.

This gradually provided a favorable environment for the development of bilateral relations. In 1989, following the visit of the then Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and the Pacific to Seoul, which was established after the ceasefire in the imposed war with Iraq, new developments took place and appropriate measures were taken in accordance with the country's foreign policy priorities and the first ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran was sent to Seoul. Since then, relations and cooperation between the two countries have expanded in various fields.

The years 2015 and 2016 can be considered the peak of diplomatic movements in the history of political relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Korea.

After the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of the UN Summit in New York, Mr. Yong Byung-se, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, after a 14-year on November 7, 2014, paid a one-day visit to Iran and met Mr. Rouhani, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Mr. Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran. Prior to that, the then Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation visited Iran in August 1994 and talked with his counterpart about ways to develop and deepen relations between the two countries.

But (without a doubt) the turning point of diplomatic developments between Iran and South Korea can be described as the official visit of the then President of South Korea Park to Iran on May 1, 2019. This trip, which is the first case at this level in the history of relations between the two countries since its establishment, attracted the public opinion of the two countries. The trip was accompanied by a 236-member economic delegation (the largest delegation accompanying a Korean president on a foreign trip) and four ministers, During the visit, 54 documents (including 19 documents in the presence of the two presidents) in various fields of culture, science and technology, higher education, customs, extradition, and judicial cooperation, health and hospital establishment, as well as food and medicine, Banking, economic, agricultural, fisheries and trade, and the participation of Korean companies in infrastructure projects were signed by the parties.

During 2017, the trend of bilateral developments in all political, economic, cultural and parliamentary areas continued to maintain its upward trend. This year, more than 82 delegations were exchanged between the two countries at various levels, the most important of which include; Visit of Dr. Larijani, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Visit of the Ministers of Communications and Information Technology, Health, Treatment and Medical Education, Minister of Economy and Finance and Mayor of Tehran to Seoul, and reciprocal visit of the Speaker of the Korean National Parliament and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Korea belonged to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since 2018, despite the negative impact of Trump's withdrawal from JCOPA and the resumption of unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the level of cooperation between the two countries has been well managed and maintained. And we have witnessed the continuation of consultations and exchange of delegations to each other's capitals. Including the visit of the chairman and members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Seoul and the exchange of several delegations at the level of deputies of various ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Of course, during the last two years, unfortunately, South Korea, in line with US policies, has significantly reduced its relations with our country in all areas.

In this regard, South Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong-kun, visited the Islamic Republic of Iran on January, 2021 to resolve the issue of Iranian frozen assets and met with Araqchi, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for political affairs and Iran's Central Bank Authorities. At this point in time, Koh Kyung-Seok, Director-General of MOFA”s African and the Middle Eastern Affairs Bureau paid a visit to Tehran, too.

However, the most significant approach in bilateral relations over the past two years is the visit  of South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Sye-kyun, to the Islamic Republic of  Iran. 
The South Korean Prime Minister Chung, heading a high-ranking delegation visited Tehran on April 11 and 12, 2021, in order to pave the ground for strengthening bilateral relations between Seoul and Tehran. On this trip, South Korean Prime
Minister met with Jahangiri, Iranian First Vice President, Dr. Ghalibaf, Iran's Parliamentary Speaker and Dr. Larijani, the Adviser of Iranian Supreme Leader.