South Korea to send envoy to Iran as Hormuz remains blocked

South Korea will send a special envoy to Iran as Seoul ramps up efforts to secure safe passage for dozens of its ships that have been stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for weeks, with traffic through the key waterway still severely constrained despite the US-Iran ceasefire.



South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Mr Abbas Araghchi, on April 9 by phone and stressed the need for swift resumption of free navigation for all vessels in the crucial waterway.



It was their second phone call in three weeks.



“Minister Cho decided to dispatch a special envoy to Iran to discuss the situation in the Middle East and bilateral issues between South Korea and Iran,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.



The envoy – Mr Chung Byung-ha, a former ambassador to Kuwait – will be sent “in the near future".