The government has stressed that not only South Korea but also Russia must make efforts toward bilateral relations. 

Foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a briefing on Thursday that Seoul is aware of the Russian government’s announcement that it will take measures against South Korea’s export curbs against Russia. 

Lim said Seoul had explained to Moscow about its plan to pursue such export restrictions before they were announced, adding that the two countries continue to hold necessary communication. 

Lim then denied some media reports that Russia warned of retaliatory measures, citing that the original announcement in Russian states “response steps.”

Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea restricted exports of 682 items to Russia which could be used for military purposes, including heavy equipment used in construction, secondary battery and machine tools. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Moscow’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a briefing that Seoul’s latest decision to add more items to an export ban list is an “unfriendly” step made at the request of the U.S.

She then added that Russia has a right to respond to the move and that such a move won’t be necessarily symmetrical.