ROKG REACTION ON IRISL ANSWERS AND DEMARCHE

S E C R E T SEOUL 001988 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CPI -- KEVIN MCGEEHAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2023 TAGS: ECON EFIN KNNP PARM PTER IR KS SUBJECT: ROKG REACTION ON IRISL ANSWERS AND DEMARCHE REF: A. STATE 104496 ¶B. STATE 103737 Classified By: Economic Minister Counselor Andrew Quinn Reasons: 1.4(B) and (D). ¶1. (S) Deputy Econ Counselor met with MOFAT officials Sun-hwan Lee (Middle East Division) and Si-jon Song (North America Division) on October 6 to review Ref A IRISL demarche and to present Ref B responses to ROKG questions concerning the implications of the U.S. designation of IRISL. ¶2. (S) Lee and Song were appreciative of the clarifications provided. Lee stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working within the Korean government to determine the best response. He said that a consensus had emerged that sanctions against a company such as IRISL could only be effective if they were enforced broadly. Lee amplified by noting that Korean companies could suffer serious consequences in future competition for contracts not only in Iran butmore broadly in the Middle East if they were seen as likely to impose sanctions at U.S. request when Chinese, Indian, or other firms were not. ¶3. (S) After reviewing the wording to the U.S. response to the question, "What are the risks to Korean firms that continue to deal with IRISL in the absence of a UN-designation of the firm?," Lee asked directly if this could be interpreted to mean that the "mere export of vessels by a firm would trigger the potential use of E.O. 13382." Post promised to convey this request for greater clarity to Washington. STEPHENS