A group of South Korean lawmakers have left for Japan today... in a bid to ease tensions and find a diplomatic solution to the Seoul-Tokyo trade spat.
During their two-day stay, they will meet with members of Japan's rival parties.... and explain Seoul's stance on the export curbs,... and Tokyo's push to remove South Korea from its trade whitelist.
For more we connect to our political correspondent Kim Min-ji at the National Assembly.
Min-ji, fill us in.
The South Korean delegation left this morning for a two day trip.
Before leaving they said that they plan to urge Japan to lift its export curbs and scrap plans to remove South Korea from its whitelist of countries that face minimal trade restrictions.
The 10-member team added that they hope to act as a bridge for the governments of the two countries to find a diplomatic solution.
Take a listen.
"Our delegation will meet with lawmakers of both Japan's ruling and opposition parties to discuss our positions on the matter and prevent the situation from taking a turn for the worse. We are planning to deliver the message that we want to cooperate to resolve the issue diplomatically."
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Now it's just a two-day trip but they have their plates full with a string of meetings lined up with Japanese lawmakers and parliamentary officials.
First up on Wednesday is a working lunch with Fukushiro Nukaga chief of a parliamentarians' union between the two countries... and a lawmaker for Japan's ruling party.
Also another highly anticipated meeting is with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party,... who is known to be close with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Well do keep us posted on their trip.
I understand South Korea's National Assembly has launched a bipartisan consultation group today to deal with Japan's export controls.
Yes. Rival parties launched the consultation body which includes lawmakers, government officials as well as representatives of the private sector.
Their first meeting was held this morning,... where they were briefed by the finance ministry and discussed ways to resolve the issue.
In their opening remarks,... the participants said that the body will be aimed at fostering a national response to counter Japan's economic retaliation.
They said first and foremost is to minimize the fallout on local companies.... and they vowed to come up with both long-term and short-term plans to boost the competitiveness of South Korea's parts and materials industries.... as well as push for localization.
That's all for now, back for you.
