South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang will visit Japan early next month, a source close to the matter revealed on Oct. 11. He will attend the G20 meeting of national assembly speakers, which will be held at the Upper House Building on Nov. 4. This will be his first visit to Japan since he demanded an apology from the Emperor Emeritus, who was Emperor at that time, over the comfort women issue. Attention will be focused on Moon during his visit because he has not yet offered an official apology for his remarks.

The summit of G20 Speakers of Parliament was inaugurated in 2010. This year will mark the sixth occasion. Since Japan hosted the G20 summit in Osaka this June, Upper House President Akiko Santo invited the speakers of parliament from the G20 nations to visit Japan, and Moon accepted the invitation.

According to the South Korea National Assembly, Moon apologized for his remarks when he met with former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in Seoul in June. However, he has not offered an official apology to the Japanese government yet. When Santo met South Korea’s Ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo in late September to deliver a letter of invitation to Moon, she protested that Moon’s remarks were “extremely rude and inexcusable.” (Abridged)