People from a civic group and Ukraine stage a protest rally near the Russian Embassy in Seoul, Monday, over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Yonhap

Seoul also plans to ban exports of strategic materials to Moscow

By Kang Seung-woo

Korea has decided to participate in the international community's move to block select Russian banks from a global payments network as part of efforts to stand in line with global sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.

In addition, Korea also plans to ban exports of strategic materials to Russia.

The decision came days after the United States and its key allies, including Germany and Britain, announced Saturday (local time) that they would remove some Russian banks from the SWIFT bank messaging system. SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication that facilitates rapid cross-border payments.

President Moon Jae-in said, Thursday that Korea will join international sanctions against Russia in protest against its military aggression.

"The Korean government will join the international community's move to remove Russia from the SWIFT and its specific plan will be decided following relevant ministries' discussions," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry added that the government had notified the U.S. of its decision via a diplomatic channel.