U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris poses for a photo during an interview with AFP at the ambassador's residence in Seoul on Jan. 16, 2020. AFP

Rep. Song Young-gil of the governing Democratic Party of Korea / Korea Times file

A ruling party heavyweight in South Korea strongly criticized U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris on Friday for his remarks on President Moon Jae-in's push for inter-Korean cooperation.

"It's good to express his personal view, but if South Korea follows whatever a foreign ambassador says, he or she would be like a 'governor general' of the Japanese colonial government of Korea," Rep. Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party told a local radio program. Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945.

The four-term lawmaker, who serves as chairman of the party's special committee on peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia, was responding to news reports of the envoy's call for prior consultations between Seoul and Washington on Moon's plans to attempt the resumption of joint ventures with North Korea, such as individual tourism to Mount Kumgang, that are not subject to U.N.-led sanctions on the communist neighbor.