Assembly calls for SOFA revision

Ahead of the Seoul-Washington negotiations on the revision of the Status of Forces Agreement(SOFA) to be held early next month, lawmakers of both ruling and opposition parties agreed to take a joint step to eliminate some clauses of the pact, which leaves room for infringing upon national sovereignty right.

A group of 10 younger legislators from the ruling Millennium Party and the main opposition Grand National Party asserted that the U. S. demand for Korea`s compliance

with its request for the transfer of American criminal suspects to its authorities upon its own discretion and Seoul` relinquishment of its jurisdiction to try some of offenses

are intolerable in the international community. They continued that the U. S. government

should apologize for this to the Korean government and people.

The lawmakers said that the government should not attend the SOFA negotiations to start Aug. 2, unless Washington extends apology, demanding the government to exercise diplomatic right with dignity.

In case that the U. S. side refuses to comply with their request, the lawmakers said, they will pay a call at the American Embassy here in Seoul to lodge protest against it.

Meanwhile, members of the six parliamentary fraternal associations, including Rep. Kim Won-Ung of the opposition Grand National Party and Rep. Lee Chang-Bok of the ruling Millennium Party, will hold a joint emergency meeting July 14 at the Assembly, and exchange views to work out a most proper guideline for the SOFA revision.