Moon Administration Wants Members of Parliament to Travel to North Korea for Inter-Korean Summit

The Moon administration is trying to get South Korean conservatives to attend the Inter-Korean Summit later this month in Pyongyang:

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Monday asked the parliamentary speaker and heads of all five political parties in South Korea to accompany President Moon Jae-in on his upcoming trip to the North.

The invitation came from Moon’s chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who currently heads a summit preparation committee.

The Moon-Kim summit is set to be held in Pyongyang from Sept. 18-20.

“The preparation committee for the 2018 Pyongyang summit seeks to invite National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang and vice speakers … as special parliamentary delegates,” Im told a press briefing.

The heads of all five major political parties, including Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party and Kim Byong-jun of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), have also been invited.

Those invited also include Rep. Kang Seok-ho of the main opposition party, who currently serves as the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and unification.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the South Korean conservatives have declined the invitation calling it a political stunt:

The LKP criticized the government’s proposal as a “political tactic.” The party’s interim chief Kim Byung-joon refused to accept the invitation. The National Assembly speaker’s office said the speaker would also not be part of the delegation.

Only the minor liberal party for Democracy and Peace and the most-progressive Justice Party accepted the invitation, alongside the DPK.  [Korea Times]