In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the South Korean government has decided to prohibit the transfer of critical materials to the country, joining the United States and other nations in imposing stringent restrictions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decision Monday.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government has informed the United States of its associated decisions through diplomatic channels.
In the context of the ongoing situation in Ukraine, Seoul has declared its first set of economic sanctions against the Russian Federation. Export control reviews will be tightened by the government, which will effectively prevent the export of key resources from taking place. They include items such as conventional weapons, products and technology that have the potential to be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and missiles, among other things. These are materials that are classified under multilateral export control regimes such as the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the Australia Group, amongst other organizations.
Regarding the approval of what are designated as "non-strategic materials," the government will make a decision as soon as possible after conducting an examination with the help of relevant ministries. These materials include 57 goods that were sanctioned by the United States unilaterally last week, including semiconductors, computers, telecommunications, information security systems, lasers, and sensors, among other things, as well as lasers and sensors.
A decision was made by the ministry to join the United States and other allies in blocking access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), an international payment system utilized by hundreds of financial institutions worldwide, according to the ministry. Russia's expulsion from SWIFT is widely perceived as a measure intended at cutting the country off from a large portion of the international banking system.
Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, declared last week that the country will join international sanctions on Russia.
According to Park Kyung-mee, a spokesman for the Cheong Wa Dae, Moon warned officials on Monday that the government must come up with contingency plans to deal with the impact of sanctions against Russia.
He was also informed that, for the time being, there would be little impact on global supply chains in the areas of energy and grain, but that the impact may become more noticeable with time. Moon encouraged the government to create a hotline with businesses in order to monitor supply chain difficulties, stabilize supplies by importing from other nations, and increase inventories.
In addition, the president directed authorities to develop a strategy for delivering humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
