South Korea announced Tuesday that it will halt financial dealings with seven major Russian banks and their affiliates, as part of a global push to impose financial penalties on Moscow in response to its invasion on Ukraine.
The government would also "seriously" advise local public and financial organizations to stop investing in Russian government bonds, which will be issued starting Wednesday, the report read.
Seoul made the decision as part of a multilateral effort to exclude Russia from the SWIFT international settlement network as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Russian top lender Sberbank, as well as state-owned banks VEB and PSB, are among the banks involved.
However, the government stated that it will follow the same rules as the United States when it comes to transactions that will be authorized in exceptional circumstances, such as agriculture, Covid medical support, and energy supply. South Korea has stated that it intends to put the SWIFT-related penalties into effect as soon as the European Union releases a clear action plan.
The United States and its allies have reinforced sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, agreeing to bar some Russian banks from participating in SWIFT, an international settlement system that handles trillions of dollars in cross-border payments.
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