Lawmakers from South Korea and Japan expressed concerns on Friday over the frayed ties between the two countries and called for prompt summit talks to resolve the history and trade tensions.
About 150 members of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union adopted a joint statement after the union's annual joint general assembly in Tokyo.
"The parliaments of the two countries have decided to make more active efforts to resolve the pending issues and call for prompt opening of the two countries' summit and high-level talks," the statement said.
South Korea and Japan have clashed over Tokyo's export curbs that are seen as political retaliation for last year's Korean Supreme Court rulings that ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
Members of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians` Union, including co-chairs Kang Chang-il (front row, L) of Korea and Fukushiro Nukaga of Japan, shake hands during its general assembly session in Tokyo on Nov. 1, 2019. The two countries have been locked in a bitter trade and history row for several months. (Yonhap)
Friction has also continued over Seoul's decision to withdraw from the military information-sharing deal seen as a rare case of two-way defense collaboration and a symbolic platform to promote Washington's trilateral security cooperation with its two Asian allies.
Rep. Kim Gwang-lim of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said lawmakers from the two countries agreed on the need for a top-down approach to resolve the current situation, adding that he will convey that opinion to the president.
South Korean and Japanese lawmakers of the union have alternately hosted a joint meeting every year. This year, 41 South Korean lawmakers and 110 Japanese lawmakers took part in the event. (Yonhap)
