Lawmakers of the ruling Uri Party say they are preparing a statement expressing their opposition against the North Korea Human Rights Act that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The lawmakers said Saturday they planned to collect signatures opposing the bill from 80 to 90 of their colleagues in the party next week, to be conveyed later to the U.S. Congress. The lawmakers also said they will travel to Washington in August to dissuade the U.S. Senate from approving the bill.
The legislators and several local civic groups said they believed the North Korea Human Rights Act would seek to suffocate the communist state and dampen ties between the two Koreas.
U.S. Congressman Jim Leach, who introduced the bill and chairs the House Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, says he is cautiously optimistic the bill would pass the Senate in September.
Jim was quoted in two radio interviews as saying several senators held a strong interest in the human rights situation in North Korea. Concerning South Korean lawmakers' opposition, Leach replied the bill was unrelated to current political concerns on North Korea.
The U.S. House on Wednesday unanimously passed the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, which calls for the U.S. government to be actively involved in the North Korean human rights issue and protect its defectors.