August 1, 2019

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kokuta Keiji on July 31 at a luncheon meeting held in Tokyo between Japanese and South Korean parliamentarians said, “At the moment, it’s important for the two governments to hold dialogue in a sincere manner.”

The meeting was hosted by the Japan-South Korea Parliamentarians’ League. In the meeting, Japanese lawmakers exchanged with South Korean lawmakers who are members of the ROK-Japan Parliamentary Diplomacy Forum views on how to ease the strained bilateral relations triggered by Japan’s tighter restrictions on the exports of semiconductor materials to South Korea.

Kokuta, who attended the meeting as a member of the cross-party parliamentary group, stressed that the two governments have stated that their doors to dialogue remain open. He added that it is necessary for parliamentarians of the two nations to urge their governments to return to the negotiation table.

Regarding the issue of wartime Korean forced laborers in Japan, Kokuta pointed out that both the governments and the supreme courts in Japan and South Korea recognize that despite the 1965 bilateral claims agreement, the individual right to claim compensation still holds. The JCP lawmaker said that based on this point, the issue should be resolved through dialogue. He referred to the December 2018 joint statement which the Japanese and South Korean parliamentarians’ unions adopted in their general assembly, and said, “As stressed in the statement, the need is to settle the issue through negotiations.”

Japan-South Korea Parliamentarians’ League Chair Nukaga Fukushiro (Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker) said, “We need to make efforts to find a constructive path forward in regard to the serious situation the Japan-South Korea relations are currently facing.”

Suh Chung-won, the chairman of the ROK-Japan Parliamentary Diplomacy Forum, appreciated the Japanese lawmakers’ group working as a bridge between the two nations and expressed his hope that bilateral tensions will be eased.

The ROK-Japan Parliamentary Diplomacy Forum was established in May this year in South Korea’s National Assembly as one of 12 parliamentary diplomacy forums for key countries and regions. Forum members visit the respective country and region they are focused on.

Past related articles:
> Japan will restrict exports to S. Korea as retaliatory step over the issue of Korean forced laborers [July 11, 2019]
> Shii as member of parliamentary union speaks on Korean 'forced laborers' with President Moon [December 15, 2018]