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Democratic Party lawmaker Rep. Choe Jae-seong

Politicians with South Korea’s Democratic Party have unleashed what appears to be a coordinated barrage of criticism at the Japanese government.

“If Japan ends up actually instigating an economic war, it will ultimately go down as the country guilty of economic war crimes, the country that once again toppled the international trade order,” said Democratic Party lawmaker Rep. Choe Jae-seong, chair of the Special Action Committee for Japan’s Economic Aggression, during a plenary session of the committee held in the National Assembly on July 18.

“The economic aggression that has been rashly perpetrated by three close aides of [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe is the culmination of top-down politics that has even sidelined Japan’s own Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Abe has made a serious blunder by dragging the economy into politics as he scrambles to avoid criticism for the failure of Abenomics and to keep Japan relevant in regional affairs,” Choe said.

“Japan means to create a pliant government in South Korea that can be controlled through economic means. But we’re absolutely not going to give in. If they’re hoping for a subservient pro-Japanese government, they’ve got another thing coming,” the lawmaker added.

“How is the international society supposed to trust a government that keeps changing its story? First, they said that [the export controls] were because of the [Supreme Court’s] ruling about compensation for forced labor. Next, they said it was because we’d let strategic materials slip into North Korea. And now they’re saying it’s because South Korean companies got behind in paying their suppliers,” said Rep. Kim Min-seok, another lawmaker on the special committee.

When asked about the series of hardline remarks that were made in the special committee on Thursday, another Democratic Party lawmaker said, “Since the ruling party has more leeway than the government, it needs to make tougher remarks that reflect public opinion.”

Multi-party delegation of lawmakers to visit US to request help

In a related development, National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang has set up a multi-party delegation of lawmakers from the National Assembly who will be asking the American government for help. The delegation is planning to visit the US for five days, on July 24-28. The delegation will be led by former National Assembly speaker Jeong Se-gyun, with other members including Rep. Lee Su-hyeok and Rep. Park Gyeong-mi, from the Democratic Party; Rep. Kim Se-yeon, Rep. Choe Gyo-il, and Rep. Yu Gi-jun, from the Liberty Korea Party; and Rep. Yu Ui-dong and Rep. Lee Sang-don, from the Bareunmirae Party.

“The delegation to the US is planning to draw attention to the injustice of Japan’s export restrictions and to strive to create consensus on this point throughout the US, and in Congress in particular,” said Han Min-su, spokesperson for the National Assembly. After a resolution calling for the retraction of Japan’s export controls that is being prepared by three ruling and opposition parties passes the National Assembly, the delegation will deliver that resolution to the Americans.

By Kim Won-chul, staff reporter

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