The South Korean government said it will judge the fire incident involving HMM's Namoo vessel, which broke out while anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, based on investigation results rather than jumping to conclusions.
"We are paying attention to the position of the Iranian Embassy and Iranian media reports," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters Tuesday. "At this point, establishing the facts and identifying the cause comes first."
The Iranian Embassy in Seoul said in an official statement the previous day that it "firmly rejects and strongly denies all claims that the military of the Islamic Republic of Iran was involved in the incident related to the damage sustained by the Korean vessel in the Strait of Hormuz." However, Iranian state-run media Press TV reported that "Iran targeted a Korean vessel that violated maritime regulations."
Regarding the conflicting accounts, the foreign ministry official said, "We consider Iran's position to be well reflected in the embassy's statement, and we will not assess the reports by Iranian state-run media." The official added, "Since an investigation must be conducted, we will review various circumstances based on its results."
Separately, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Park Il stressed at a regular briefing Tuesday that "the consistent position of the international community is that North Korea cannot hold the status of a nuclear weapons state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)." North Korea has been claiming nuclear weapons state status following a constitutional amendment in March.
