S Korea Opp. Leader Raps President Over Remarks on Iran

By Staff, Agencies

South Korea’s Opposition leader Lee Jae-Myung lashed out at President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, saying that his recent remark branding Iran as the "enemy" of the United Arab Emirates was "monocellular" and "biased."

"It is truly regrettable that he cannot make the most basic judgment," the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party [DP] said in the party's Supreme Council meeting, likening the incident to a "diplomatic disaster."

"Through a monocellular and biased diplomacy based on the notion that a friend's enemy is my enemy, you cannot properly guard the people and national interest," the DP leader said, urging Yoon to get a better grasp of the basics of diplomacy and security.

Lee also said the "very wrong and thoughtless remarks" have put the UAE in a difficult position and provoked Iran, voicing concern that it may adversely affect Korean residents in the country as well as South Korean vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Addressing the UAE-based Korean forces during a recent trip to the Gulf Arab state, Yoon drew a parallel between the alleged threat posed to his country by North Korea and what he called the "threat" facing Abu Dhabi from Iran. He then described Iran as the "most-threatening nation" to the UAE.

In response, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly slammed the South Korean president's latest remarks on Iran's relations with the United Arab Emirates as totally "invalid," saying it expects an explanation from Seoul.

Nasser Kanaani, the ministry's spokesman, said on Monday that Tehran is following up on Yoon Suk Yeol's "interventionist" remarks concerning the quality of the Islamic Republic's relations with the UAE.

Seoul's foreign ministry has stressed Yoon's remarks were "irrelevant" to Seoul's relations with Iran and urged against "unnecessary overinterpretation" of the remark, saying it was made while encouraging South Korean soldiers.

The ministry also said South Korea's commitment to relations with Iran remains firm.