Japanese FM Vows to Overcome Pending Issues with Beijing, Seoul

Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka pledged Thursday to make efforts to resolve contentious issues with China and South Korea, including the two countries' demands that Japan make additional revisions to controversial junior high school history textbooks recently approved by the Japanese government, Kyodo News reported.

"There are a number of issues, such as the textbook issue, but I will make utmost efforts so they will not impact Japan's relations with both countries," Tanaka said in her foreign policy speech to the House of Councilors Foreign and Defense Affairs Committee.

Tanaka is planning to meet her counterparts from the two countries -- Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Han Seung Soo -- on the sidelines of next week's foreign ministerial conference of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing.

China, South Korea, which blame some of the textbooks for contain passages that distort historical facts with regard to Japan's aggression toward Asian countries before and during the World War II, have demanded that Japan take effective measures to correct serious mistakes in the textbooks, approved by Japan's Education Ministry in early April for use in the new school which begins in April 2002..

The policy speech is Tanaka's first since being appointed foreign minister on April 26.

In an address prior to delivering her foreign policy speech, Tanaka vowed to carry out reforms in the Foreign Ministry.

"As the foreign minister of the cabinet that will carry out reforms, I will tackle reforming the diplomatic area. I will personally be involved in working out a set of specific reform proposals and take the responsibility of announcing it," she said.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry decided to reform itself in the wake of an embezzlement scandal which broke early this year in which a ministry official has been indicted on suspicion of using public funds for personal purposes.






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