Subtitled News: "Using Oil Payments from South Korea for Negotiations?" Tensions Rise as U.S. and Iran Clash Over Frozen Assets

The path has opened for Iran to regain access to $6 billion—approximately 9.2 trillion won—in payments for crude oil it previously sold to South Korea.

These funds are currently held not in South Korea, but in Qatar.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States and Qatar are discussing a plan to allow these frozen funds to be used for the purchase of humanitarian goods.

These funds were originally Iranian assets frozen at Woori Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) due to U.S. sanctions.

In 2018, during the first Trump administration, the funds were frozen in South Korea after the U.S. reinstated sanctions against Iran. They were eventually transferred to Qatar in 2023 following negotiations for the release of American hostages.

The funds were routed through Qatar to allow the U.S. to monitor and control Iran's spending.

However, the assets were frozen again immediately after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel in October of that year.

According to the plan, the Central Bank of Iran would be able to use this money to purchase food and medicine.

This money is desperate for Iran.

The country has run out of foreign currency due to hyperinflation and a plummeting currency value.

These funds serve as the first litmus test to see if the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran will hold.

The U.S. promised to fully release Iran's frozen assets in accordance with the agreement.

The total amount of Iranian assets frozen worldwide is $100 billion, with Iran demanding the immediate release of $24 billion.

However, the U.S. government maintains that it will release the funds based on Iran's behavior.

[Donald Trump/President of the United States: I signed the agreement last night, and the deadline is 60 days. Iran must conclude the negotiations. If they don't, we will do things they won't like. But I don't think it will come to that.]

After Mojtaba Khamenei, the leader of Iran, claimed that "the U.S. was desperate for a ceasefire," President Trump fired back on social media, stating, "We will see it through to the 60-day mark, but Iran is finished; they won't get a single cent," continuing the intense war of nerves.

The U.S. has stated that if Iran demonstrates "good behavior," such as handing over enriched uranium, it will release more assets.

How the Iranian oil payments, once frozen in South Korea, are released has become a benchmark for gauging the direction of this ceasefire.

Reported by Kim, Soo Hyung | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.