| Rep. Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, participates in his party's emergency meeting on Japan's economic “invasion” at the National Assembly, Friday. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
The ruling and opposition parties unanimously condemned Japan, Friday, following its decision to broaden trade restrictions on Korea, calling on Tokyo to immediately drop the retaliatory measures triggered by a wartime forced labor dispute.
The parties, however, were divided over how to respond.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and two minor opposition parties — the Party for Democracy and the Peace and Justice Party — insisted on scrapping the Seoul-Tokyo intelligence sharing GSOMIA.
They said the GSOMIA, which expires Aug. 24, should not be renewed because the soon-to-be broadened trade restrictions poses a security threat to Korea, and therefore, Japan cannot be trusted in any such security-related deal.
| Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) speaks during an emergency meeting at the National Assembly, Friday, on Japan's newly imposed trade restrictions. Yonhap |
But main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP) argued the trade row should not spread to security issues and that the GSOMIA should be secured. It called for resolving the trade dispute through diplomacy.
“I doubt that there is any point in keeping the GSOMIA, an intelligence sharing agreement with Tokyo based on this untrustworthy relationship. I will deeply reconsider the meaning of the pact.” DPK Chairman Lee Hae-chan said.
“Seoul has had an economic relationship with Japan through free trade for decades, risking a trade deficit worth more than $20 billion, or 23.9 million won, every year. I can no longer contain my anger over the decision made by Japan which appears arrogant when it claims the country does not trust Korea anymore.” He also said his party will form an emergency committee with Cheong Wa Dae and the government to tackle the situation.
This is a change in Lee's previous stance when he stated, “I think the pact is necessary to maintain peace in Northeast Asia.”
Rep. Lee In-young, floor leader of the DPK urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration to immediately cancel the “unfair and unjust economic retaliation.”
Rep. Park Chan-dae, spokesman of the DPK, called Tokyo's decision a “sudden economic invasion” of Korea's economy. “Koreans remember Japan's past invasions of Korea between 1592 and 1598 and colonial rule from 1910 to 1945,” he said.
Meanwhile, calling it a backward step for relations between Korea and Japan, Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), said “The move not only seriously damages the economies of the two countries, but also the global economy by impairing the value chain of the international community. I and the LKP strongly condemn the Abe administration's wrong decision, together with our people, and call for its immediate cancellation.”
However, he didn't mention the GSOMIA and urged the government to look for ways to resolve the problem through diplomacy while stressing that it needs to make every effort to minimize the damage to the people.
Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP said, “The removal of Korea from the whitelist is a de facto diplomatic mistake to no longer consider Korea as its ally.”
Rep. Oh Shin-hwan, floor leader of the BMP said, “Japan's decision should be lifted as it damaged the friendly relations built between Korea and Japan since the 1965 bilateral agreement which founded diplomatic relations.”
Claiming that the Abe administration has crossed the forbidden line in the Seoul-Tokyo relations, Rep. Youn So-ha, floor leader of the liberal Justice Party said the country should cancel the GSOMIA.
Park Ju-hyun, a senior spokesman of the Party for Democracy and Peace, said, “It is strange to renew the GSOMIA when trust on security issues has been broken. The government should refuse to extend the pact.”
Meanwhile, the National Assembly is expected to pass a 5.8 trillion won extra budget Friday that includes financial aid to Korean firms affected by the trade restrictions, and adopt resolutions including one criticizing Japan for removing Korea from its whitelist.
The political parties planned to pass it Thursday but failed to narrow their differences over the details.