The pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) petitioned Diet lawmakers Wednesday to pass a controversial bill to grant local-level suffrage to permanent foreign residents by the end of this year.
Mindan, the most vocal lobby group for the suffrage bill, collected the petition because opposition to the idea is rapidly gaining strength within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
While 150 Mindan leaders from across Japan visited the Tokyo offices of 730 members of both Diet chambers, Mindan President Kim Jae Sook met with LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka.