November 17, 2025

The cross-party Japan-ROK and ROK-Japan parliamentarians’ unions on November 16 held their 45th joint general assembly in Seoul. Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair Shii Kazuo (advisor to the Japan-ROK parliamentarians’ union) and several JCP lawmakers attended the assembly.

Along with Shii, JCP members who took part in the assembly were JCP Policy Commission Chair Yamazoe Taku (standing executive member of the Japan-ROK parliamentarians’ union), JCP members of the House of Representatives Tamura Takaaki (executive member of the union) and Horikawa Akiko, and JCP member of the House of Councillors Kira Yoshiko.

The two unions adopted a joint statement which emphasizes the importance of the 1998 “Japan-ROK Partnership Declaration” and seeks to elevate mutual cooperation between Japan and South Korea in all fields, including politics, economy, society and culture.

Regarding pending issues between the two countries, such as the controversies surrounding wartime Korean labor at Japan’s Sado gold mine and Chosei coal mine, the statement appealed for the need to hold dialogue to reach a settlement that restores the victims’ honor and dignity.

The statement, while condemning North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, demands that the Japanese and South Korean governments work closely for the complete denuclearization of and peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula. The statement made note that regarding North Korea’s abduction of Japanese and South Korean nationals and other human rights and humanitarian issues, the two unions will call on their governments, respectively, to take proper steps.

In the statement, the two unions agreed that as next year will mark ten years since the enactment of Japan’s anti-hate speech law, they will work to eradicate hate speech and hate crime in each country by such means as promoting anti-discrimination efforts.

Past related articles:
> Opposition parties urge gov’t to allocate budget for recovery of remains of 1942 undersea mine accident victims [September 5, 2025]
> Japan recommends ‘Sado Kinzan’ as a World Cultural Heritage candidate but hides the history of Korean forced labor there [July 10, 2024]
> Japan’s legislature makes a big step forward to end hate speech [ May 13 & 14, 2016]