The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Speaker floats plan for South Korea-US legislators union

By Kim Arin

Published : April 6, 2023 - 16:08

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Rep. Michael McCaul toasts with Rep. Kim Jin-pyo during a dinner at the speaker’s residence on Wednesday. (National Assembly speaker’s office) Rep. Michael McCaul toasts with Rep. Kim Jin-pyo during a dinner at the speaker’s residence on Wednesday. (National Assembly speaker’s office)

The speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, said he is seeking to form a union of South Korean and US legislators within this year.

“There isn’t yet an official channel for dialogue between South Korea and the US legislatures. Given the history and the significance of the ROK-US alliance, a union of legislators of two countries is urgently needed,” he said in a statement following a dinner with US congressional delegation on Wednesday, referring to the Republic of Korea.

In the statement Kim’s office said the speaker and the eight lawmakers of the US House Committee for Foreign Affairs discussed areas in which the two parliaments could work together as South Korea and the US celebrate the 70th anniversary of alliance this year.

More specifically the speaker asked for the US lawmakers’ support in establishing a union of legislators by the end of this year.

The bilateral delegation of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led by the committee’s chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, arrived here for a three-day trip Tuesday.