일본경제침략대책특위, 외신기자간담회서 "日 경제 침략, 안보리 회부 정부에 요청할 것"
Now South Korean lawmakers are gearing up efforts to tackle Japan's export curbs to Korea by raising global awareness on the issue.
A ruling party led committee to tackle Japan's economic retaliation held a press conference addressing the foreign press today.
The group of lawmakers that went to Washington is also set to begin talks with their counterparts in the coming hours.
Kim Mok-yeon has this report.
The ruling Democratic Party's Special Committee on the Japanese Economic Aggression held a press conference with foreign correspondents on Thursday to raise awareness of the unfairness of Japan's export curbs.
Speaking at the Seoul Foreign Correspondent's Club in central Seoul, committee chief and ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Jae-sung said that Japan's retaliation is groundless.
Japan has been citing several issues including a supposed loss of trust over wartime disputes, an alleged inability on the part of South Korea to control strategic materials, and a review by Japan of the way it manages its exports.
The four-term lawmaker said Japan is disrupting the global value chain and the international economic order, and that Japan will have to pay a price at the international level.
"Japan has already imposed export restrictions on key materials. Our committee will ask the Korean government to refer Japan to the UN Security Council."
The committee also questioned Japan's qualifications to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, citing the Olympic philosophy of peace.
They demanded that Japan immediately withdraw the existing export restrictions and its plan to exclude South Korea from its whitelist of trusted importers.
Meanwhile, over in Washington, a delegation of South Korean lawmakers are working to express Seoul's concerns there.
On Thursday local time, the delegation will meet with Senator Tom Cotton, who is known to be close to President Trump, and Representative Ted Yoho, a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation.
The following day, the delegation will participate on a biannual debate with their counterparts from the U.S. and Japan on economic and diplomatic issues.
There the lawmakers are set to deliver a resolution unanimously signed by parliament's foreign affairs and unification committee calling for Japan to withdraw its trade curbs.
Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.
