Seoul expands Russia, Belarus export restrictions

February 28, BPN. Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, reports that on February 24, Seoul expanded the control list of goods supplied to Belarus and Russia by 741 entries, including machines and vehicles that can be used as weapons.

The South Korean trade ministry widened the list of sanctioned goods from 57 to 798 “strategic materials,” including oil and gas processing equipment, machines, bearings and heat exchangers.

These exports to Belarus and Russia can be used as weapons, the ministry said.

On February 25, the Belarusian Embassy to the Republic of Korea stated that it “regrets the actions of the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to expand the Belarus export control list” to include the goods “unrelated to strategic items according to South Korea’s export control scheme.”

The South Korean government imposed export restrictions on Belarus on March 6, arguing that it “significantly contributes to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

It clarified that the measures will be similar to those imposed on Russia.