South Korea's foreign ministry said the government hopes to smoothly resolve issues surrounding Iran's frozen assets in the country after foreign media reported that the U.S. and Iran struck a deal on the funds as part of a prisoner release.

An official from the foreign ministry said on Friday that Seoul consulted closely with Washington and Tehran on the relevant aspects of the deal, a reiteration of the government's position, while declining to confirm details of the reported agreement.

Bloomberg earlier reported that Washington had requested Seoul to transfer the funds through Switzerland to Qatar, and that the exchange of U.S. and Iranian detainees would take place upon completion.

Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Friday that six billion U.S. dollars in frozen assets were transferred from South Korea to a bank in Switzerland in line with the agreement with the U.S.

The Iranian assets were frozen in two South Korean banks under sanctions imposed by the U.S. following its withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program by the Donald Trump administration in 2018.