[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Cho Hyun-dong, the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, recently held a phone consultation with Enrico Mora, Deputy Secretary-General of the European Union External Action Service (EEAS), who mediated the restoration negotiations of the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) held in Doha, Qatar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 5th.
In his first call with Deputy Secretary-General Mora since taking office, held the previous afternoon, Vice Minister Cho exchanged views on strengthening strategic communication between Korea and the European Union (EU) regarding the current issues in the JCPOA restoration negotiations.
Deputy Secretary-General Mora provided a detailed explanation of the recent trends and prospects of the Doha negotiations.
Vice Minister Cho expressed his gratitude, evaluated the EU's efforts to break the deadlock in the nuclear negotiations, and reaffirmed Korea's support.
The current issues related to the JCPOA negotiations are interpreted as referring to Iran's won-denominated funds frozen in Korea.
The frozen Iranian funds in Korea amount to approximately 7 billion dollars, known as the largest among Iran's overseas frozen assets.
For this issue to be resolved, a breakthrough must be made in the JCPOA restoration negotiations; therefore, although Korea is not a party to the JCPOA, it has maintained close communication with the negotiating parties.
Iran and the United States, with the EU as mediator, held indirect negotiations to restore the nuclear deal in Doha at the end of last month, but the talks concluded without any results.
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