PM thanks Japan's gov't, parliament for condolences over deadly crowd crush

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday expressed gratitude to the Japanese government and parliament for their condolences over the deadly Halloween crowd crush.

"I would like to thank the Japanese government and leaders of parliament for consoling the Korean people," Han said at a meeting of lawmakers' unions from the two nations.

Han noted South Korea and Japan recently resumed visa-free entry to each other thanks to efforts by senior lawmakers from the two nations.

The meeting of the lawmakers' union resumed for the first time in three years.

It also came as South Korea and Japan have been seeking to repair ties badly frayed over wartime forced labor and other issues related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Han asked the lawmakers to "make more efforts for the new future of Northeast Asia and future-oriented development of Korea-Japan relations."

kdh@yna.co.kr
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