By Josh Smith
SEOUL – South Korea will implement export controls against Belarus for “effectively supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry did not detail what measures would be taken, but said they will be applied in a similar way to moves already taken by South Korea against Russia. It condemned Moscow as having launched an “armed invasion” of Ukraine.
South Korea said last month it would tighten export controls against Russia by banning shipments of strategic items and join Western countries’ moves to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
“The Korean government decided today to implement export control measures against Belarus as well, judging that Belarus is effectively supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the ministry said in Sunday’s statement.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”. Last month Russia’s Ambassador to South Korea Andrey Kulik expressed regret at the sanctions, blaming “strong outside pressure” on Seoul from the United States and its Western partners.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Christopher Cushing)