Japan Press Weekly

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2016 May 18 - 24 [JCP]

JCP Kasai attends meeting of Japan-ROK parliamentary dialogue committee

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira attended the first meeting of the “Future Dialogue between the Parliaments of Japan and South Korea” held on May 17 in the Diet building in Tokyo.

This parliamentary dialogue took place as proposed by Oshima Tadamori, the Lower House speaker, during his visit to South Korea last October. Nine members of the Korean National Assembly and experts came to Japan to participate in the supra-partisan event.

Kasai spoke on the theme of Japan-Korea cooperation in Northeast Asia. He said that the agreement reached by the two governments upon the “comfort women” issue is an important first step toward resolving the issue, and that Japan should face up to and reflect on its past deeds in order to achieve an overall settlement. “Japan must keep taking the historical lessons seriously and convey them into the future,” said Kasai.

Regarding the North Korean nuclear test in January, he again expressed his strong protest against it. He touched on the UN sanction resolution against North Korea and said, “Most importantly, the world’s governments should band together and make diplomatic efforts to resume the Six-Party talks.”

He then introduced the JCP position which has been calling on the Japanese government to have a sound strategy to diplomatically resolve problems. He also talked about the JCP proposal for establishing a regional community of peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia and expressed his hope to continue exchanging opinions with countries concerned for the realization of such a community.

Past related articles:
> Japan-ROK agreement on ‘comfort women’ insufficient for victims to feel ‘real freedom’ [December 30, 2015]
> Shii condemns N. Korea’s nuclear test [January 6, 2016]