South Korea says Russia diesel shipments not banned

South Korea said Thursday that alleged diesel shipments to Russia would not breach its export controls, while saying it was still checking whether fuel of South Korean origin had been exported.

Britain's Guardian newspaper reported this week that more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, had been shipped from South Korea to Russia in July and August, citing port records and ship-tracking data.

South Korea's foreign ministry said refined petroleum products, including commercial diesel and aviation fuel, are not covered by its export bans against Russia. It also said overall exports to Moscow had more than halved since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The ministry said it had “not been established whether South Korean-origin fuels, including diesel, were exported to Russia”.

The Guardian reported that three of seven tankers said to have been loaded at South Korean ports were under sanctions. Seoul said it was carrying out further checks on the vessels' routes to determine whether any domestic laws had been violated.

The issue has added strain to relations between Seoul and Kyiv, which were already tense after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed that two captured North Korean soldiers had been transferred to South Korea. Seoul said that disclosure put the prisoners' families at risk.