Lawmakers to visit China over THAAD
By Yi Whan-woo
A group of eight lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) will visit China, Wednesday, to discuss Beijing’s protest over the planned deployment of a U.S. anti-missile battery in Korea with Chinese officials.
Song Young-gil, a four-term lawmaker, will lead the delegation comprised of two second-term lawmakers Yoo Eun-hae and Youn Kwan-suk, and five rookie members ― Park Jeung, Park Chan-dae, Shin Dong-kuen, Yoo Dong-soo and Jung Jae-ho.
This is the second time for the party to send a delegation to China for discussions over issues related to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Six rookie lawmakers travelled to China in August 2016 after Seoul and Washington announced their decision to deploy the THAAD system in Korea.
The delegates this year are scheduled to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other diplomats as well as trade officials.
The lawmakers plan to request the officials to stop China’s restrictive measures that are believed to have been taken in retaliation against Korea, according to Song.
“Those measures put restrictions on economic, cultural as well as cultural exchanges between the two countries and we’ll make our requests accordingly,” he said.
The legislators are also expected to convey a message from DPK’s presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in saying that discussions over the possible deployment of the THAAD battery should be put off until the next Korean government begins its term.
Moon, a former DPK chairman, is also the front runner in latest polls of potential candidates for this year’s presidential election.
A member of the group that left the ruling Saenuri Party criticized the DPK members’ planned trip to China, claiming it can be seen as “the new politics of submissiveness in the 21st century.”
“It’s stunning that the DPK, which seeks to become the ruling party, will tell China that it will re-consider a decision that was already made by the current government,” said Rep. Kim Young-woo of the tentatively-titled New Conservative Party for Reform.
Citing that THAAD is aimed at deterring Pyongyang’s military attacks, he asked the DPK to focus on preparing measures against the Kim Jong-un regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
“I find the DPK’s move doubtful considering the decision in favor of deploying THAAD was to protect our country based on the Seoul-Washington security alliance,” Kim said.
China has severely opposed the planned deployment of THAAD.
The Huanqiu Shibao, a sister paper of the Chinese communist party’s official People’s Daily, claimed that THAAD should be impeached as well following National Assembly’s endorsement of an impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye, Dec. 9.