White House Says Releasing Iran's Assets From South Korea Has No Significant Impact

JAKARTA - White House officials say the release of Iran's frozen assets in South Korea will not have a significant impact, amid reports of relocations of up to US$7 billion (around Rp107.2 trillion) from South Korea could weaken local currencies.

National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said the US had been working "intensively" with South Korea for that purpose.

"What I can say without discussing in more detail is that we have worked intensively with South Korea on this, and there is no impact on the transfer of accounts from South Korea," an NSC spokesperson quoted Antara as saying.

Previous reports stated that the US had agreed to release Iranian assets, frozen in two South Korean banks since 2019, in exchange for the release of five US citizens detained in Iran.

South Korea on Friday declined to confirm the deal between the US and Iran. However, they expressed hope of a smooth settlement of the frozen Iranian asset issue.

The South Korean government has also conducted close consultations with relevant countries, including the US and Iran, to address the issue.