ROKG ON VENEZUELA-IRAN RELATIONSHIP

S E C R E T SEOUL 001710 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2017 TAGS: PREL ECON PTER VE IR KS SUBJECT: ROKG ON VENEZUELA-IRAN RELATIONSHIP REF: A. STATE 61378 ¶B. 06 SEOUL 2851 Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b/d) (S) In response to ref A demarche, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Director of the South America Division Lee In-ho said that his government had little prior information about the Venezuela-Iran connection, but that he understood USG concerns about nuclear, weapons, and economic cooperation and the potential for terrorists to use Venezuelan travel documents. He noted that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had considered a trip to South and North Korea in 2006 (ref B),but said that he was not aware of any current official Venezuelan travel plans. He said that Venezuela's Embassy in Seoul now had only one administrative staffer, but the Embassy was expecting a new ambassador later this year. The Korean Embassy in Caracas was mostly looking out for Korean businesspeople, resulting in little communication with the Venezualan government. Lee added that Venezuela had expressed interest in purchasing some ROK military equipment, such as jeeps, and that MOFAT was consulting with the Ministry of Defense on this issue. He agreed to take into account the demarche points as this military sale is considered. VERSHBOW