Lawmakers to visit Japan for friendly football match

Two dozen lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties are set to depart for Japan on Friday to take part in a friendly football match with their Japanese counterparts amid warming relations between the two countries.

The match, set for Saturday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, a venue of the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by the two countries, is a reciprocal event after Japanese lawmakers visited Seoul in November for a game marking the 20th anniversary of the World Cup.

At that time, Korea beat Japan 5-3.

The November match marked the first time in four years that such a game has taken place, as relations between the two countries had been badly frayed. Their ties have warmed significantly since President Yook Suk Yeol took office last year.

The Korean team for this week's match includes 21 lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party, including Reps. Chung Jin-suk and Kim Young-jin, and two from the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, including Rep. Kim Seung-nam, and Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong from the minor opposition Justice Party.

On Japan's side, 23 lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, including Rep. Eto Seishiro, will participate.

After arrival in Tokyo on Friday, Chung plans to meet with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who serves as the Japanese side head of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, and Rep. Ryota Takeda of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Hosoda Hiroyuki, also plans to host a dinner for the Korean lawmakers. (Yonhap)