South Korea Expresses Regret Over Koizumi's Yasukuni Visit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 22, 2002

South Korea Expresses Regret Over Koizumi's Yasukuni Visit

South Korea expressed ''deep regret'' Sunday over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine earlier Sunday.

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South Korea expressed ''deep regret'' Sunday over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine earlier Sunday.

''We express deep regret about his visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which is a symbol of Japan's militarism,'' a spokesman for South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said in a statement.

''We cannot help but feel concerned about a visit to a place enshrining war criminals who caused indescribable damage and pain through colonial rule and aggression,'' the statement said.

The statement called on Japan to respect the feelings of Asian neighbors invaded by Japan before and during World War II in order to build friendship with those countries.

The government plans to summon Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Terusuke Terada to convey its regret over the visit, officials said.

South Korea, however, does not believe the incident will affect bilateral ties ahead of the World Cup soccer finals being co-hosted by the two countries, they said.

But South Korea's YTN television news network took a different view, saying Sunday the visit, coming just over a month before kickoff, could indeed sour ties.

Other South Korean television networks also reported on Koizumi's visit to the Shinto shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals along with the 2.47 million Japanese who have died in wars since the mid-19th century.

South Korea has been strongly opposed to a visit by Koizumi to the shrine since his visit there on Aug. 13 last year, two days before the 56th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

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