Lawmakers head to U.S. to attend Trump's inauguration

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- A group of lawmakers from the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee headed to the United States on Monday to attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

The ruling and opposition lawmakers, headed by Rep. Sim Jae-kwon of the Democratic Party, will stay in the U.S. through Sunday to meet officials from the new administration as well.

Along with attending the inauguration ceremony slated for Friday, they will meet with Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and other figures to discuss North Korea and Seoul-Washington ties.

The Bareun Party, which was spun off from the ruling Saenuri Party, did not join the trip as the U.S. Embassy in Seoul did not give it an invitation because the party has not yet been officially launched.