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Rep. Jin Sung-joon, chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, delivers opening remarks during an on-site inspection as part of a parliamentary audit at the 1st Fighter Wing in Gwangsan District, Gwangju, on the morning of Oct. 15. / Yonhap

Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the Democratic Party of Korea, chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, reportedly applied for an A-2 official visa to visit the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii with fellow committee members from both the ruling and opposition parties but had not received the visa as of Oct. 28.

"I strongly regret the United States' refusal to issue a visa to the chairman of South Korea's National Assembly National Defense Committee," Jin wrote on Facebook that day.

The committee had reportedly organized a parliamentary delegation to visit the U.S. Pacific Command from Nov. 1 to 5 to strengthen security cooperation between South Korea and the United States and discuss ways to further develop the alliance. The delegation consisted of Jin as its head, Rep. Kim Byung-joo, the Democratic Party's committee secretary, Rep. Lim Jong-deuk, the People Power Party's committee secretary, and Rep. Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform Party.

Jin said the delegation had already confirmed meetings with senior U.S. military officials, including Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.

"Despite these arrangements, the United States' refusal to issue a visa to the committee chairman is not simply a restriction on an individual's entry into the country. It obstructs the official parliamentary activities of the National Assembly, which represents the people of South Korea," Jin emphasized.

"I find this decision even harder to understand because I previously visited the U.S. Pacific Command in March 2014 while serving on the National Defense Committee during the 19th National Assembly," he added.

Before Jin's case, Rep. Chung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, had also prepared to travel to the United States to audit the South Korean Embassy there and conduct other inspections during the parliamentary audit period. However, delays in the issuance of his U.S. visa forced him to change his audit destination to Europe.

Referring to that case, Jin added, "I once again strongly regret the United States' actions in restricting the sovereign activities of South Korea's National Assembly and now even limiting parliamentary activities aimed at strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance. I call on the United States to take a more constructive approach."

                                                                                                             Kim Dong-min