Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters that Seoul hoped the international standoff would be resolved promptly, according to a statement released by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
In a meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari in Seoul, Ki-moon said that Seoul strongly supported international efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The two countries’ trade volume is about $4.6 billion a year. South Korea’s main export items are steel, plastics, automobiles and electronic goods, while crude oil makes up about 90 percent of Iran’s exports to South Korea.