hankyoreh

By Kim Su-heon, staff reporter

A delegation from the South Korean National Assembly and the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China released a joint statement expressing concern over Japan’s distortion of history and finding common ground on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Lee Byung-suk, vice speaker of the National Assembly and president of the Body for Regular Exchange between the Chinese and Korean Legislatures, and the South Korean delegation held a press conference at the National Assembly on Sep. 5. At the conference, they presented the agreement that they had reached at the 8th joint meeting with the delegation from China’s National People‘s Congress on Aug. 20. The Chinese delegation released the same agreement to the press on Sep. 4.

“The delegations from the Korean and Chinese legislatures expressed their grave concern about Japanese leaders and politicians who are expressing distorted understandings of their country’s history,” the delegation said. “The two delegations urged Japan to take part in forging a forward-looking cooperative relationship with its neighbors by showing sincere contrition for its history of invasions and colonial occupation based on the wider understanding of history in East Asia and the international community.”

On the question of North Korea’s nuclear program, the delegation said, “the delegations from both countries were in agreement that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is crucial for the peace and stability of the region, and we agreed to work together to resume the six-party talks.” The delegation also said that both sides are in agreement about working hard to enable the South Korea-China Free Trade Agreement to become a high-quality, comprehensive agreement.

The Body for Regular Exchange between the Chinese and Korean Legislatures is a legislative diplomacy organization that was launched in Sep. 2006 to maintain and develop cordial and cooperative ties between the two countries. This is the first time that the body drafted and published a joint statement on current issues facing the two countries.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]