A South Korean-flagged vessel was seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman on January 4th. Iran continued to cite a violation of environmental guidelines as its reason why the ship has been detained. Moreover, the Iranian government further alleged that it is not Tehran holding the South Korean vessel and its crew as hostages, whereas Seoul is holding onto around 7 billion dollars of Iranian assets. The asset refers to the frozen Iranian funds from South Korean imports of Iranian oil at South Korean banks under U.S. sanctions. As such, some suggest that Iran has intercepted the South Korean tanker to grab an edge over the U.S. in its nuclear agreement. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department issued a statement toward Iran, calling for an immediate release of the detained ship. We invite experts to discuss the reason for Iran’s seizure of the tanker and what South Korea can do to resolve this urgent incident.