South Korean Government Does Not Attend Funeral of Iran's Khamenei After Invitation Withdrawn

It has been confirmed that the South Korean government did not officially attend the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government had initially planned to attend the funeral to offer condolences through the South Korean Embassy in Iran, following an invitation from the Iranian side.
However, just before the funeral, Iran informed the South Korean side that it would not be accepting attendance from the diplomatic corps, citing reasons such as venue constraints. Consequently, the South Korean government decided not to attend.
A Foreign Ministry official explained in a phone call with SBS, "We intended for our ambassador in the country to attend, but the Iranian side requested our understanding, stating that they would not be accepting diplomatic corps attendance due to venue-related issues."
It is interpreted that the South Korean government, while considering the invitation from Iran in light of the presence of South Korean vessels such as the Namu-ho within the Strait of Hormuz and future post-war reconstruction efforts, had intended to adjust the level of its condolences to the ambassadorial level to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings with allies and partner nations, including the United States.
In this process, it appears that Iran modified its policy to only accept high-level delegations arriving from foreign countries, declining condolences from diplomatic missions stationed within Iran, and the South Korean government accepted this change in policy.
It is reported that there are currently no plans to dispatch a separate condolence delegation or schedule additional condolence visits following the funeral.
Previously, on July 3, the semi-official Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported that "some of the at least 13 countries that withdrew from attending the funeral had put forward their diplomats stationed in Tehran to attend the event instead, but the Iranian side did not accept this."
Meanwhile, it was reported that high-level officials from countries friendly to Iran, such as China, Russia, and Pakistan, attended the funeral of the former Supreme Leader Khamenei.
From China, He Wei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (equivalent to South Korea's National Assembly), attended, while Russia was represented by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir also participated.
Prior to the funeral schedule, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had announced that it would not invite governments of countries that supported airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel, nor those of European nations, and it is known that major Western countries did not attend.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.