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National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang during the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ summit in Tokyo on Nov. 4. (Yonhap News)

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang indirectly criticized Japanese export controls [against South Korea] in remarks on Nov. 4.

“It is impossible to sustain a foundation for shared growth and prosperity based cooperation within a closely interconnected international division of labor when you abandon the principle of free and fair trade,” he said.

Moon’s remarks came in a talk on “promoting free and open fair trade and investment” while attending the 6th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ summit that day at the House of Councillors members’ office building in Tokyo.

“The harder things get, the more you need to go back to basics,” he said. Calling for agreement from the G20 nations, he stressed the “need for the G20 parliamentary speakers’ trust and support in the values of free trade norms.”

“The world today is one where global trade and investment are shrinking and uncertainty is growing in the global economy due to deepening trade conflicts among countries seeking to protect their own industries and jobs,” he continued.

“Even the international division of labor that serves as a foundation for shared prosperity in the global economy is facing a serious crisis. It is a moment that desperately calls for the G20’s policy focus and a joint response to restore a free trade order of shared growth and cooperation,” he said.

Moon also stressed the importance of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

“If peace is established on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea opens up its doors, that will mean the opening of a crucial crossroads between the continental and maritime economic spheres,” he said.

“That pathway leading from the sea to the continent and from Asia to Europe is not merely a matter of traffic. It would be a rail of world peace and prosperity,” he added.

The G20 meeting that day focused on topics including the promotion of free and open fair trade and investment, the use of innovative technology for a human-centered future society, and global challenges and efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Meeting with reporters before the meeting that day, Moon said, “We have come up with legislation in which money would be raised from the South Korean and Japanese public and companies to be paid to victims of forced labor mobilization.”

“Anyone who supports this [could take part], be they Japanese or South Korean,” he added.

“These would be donations, contributions. We aren’t twisting anyone’s arms,” he said.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter, and Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

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