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ROK Government to Recall Ambassador to Japan
The government decided Wednesday to recall its ambassador to Japan, Choi Sang-ryong in protest over the approval of a distorted history textbook by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
A foreign ministry source said the decision was made following a meeting of four officials from the Prime Ministers Office, Cheong Wa Dae, and Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Education and Human Resources. Ambassador Choi is to deliver message from the government expressing its "deep regret" over the incident.
The source said that the meeting agreed that the issue of the textbook was a serious matter that damaged the basis of friendly cooperation between the two countries and that further short to mid term measures would be devised. He added that the government would not link this to other pending issues.
Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Han Seung-soo called Japanese ambassador to Korea Teresuke Terada to his office Wednesday and pointed out errors in the texts justifying nationalistic Imperial actions of the time. Han added that if sentiment against the Japanese gets worse, there could be problems in cooperation between the two countries, specifically with regard to the 2002 World Cup. However, the minister did not suggest further amendments to the text.
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