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South Korea Urges Koizumi to Drop Plan to Visit War Shrine
South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung's ruling party on Wednesday called on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to drop his controversial plan to visit a war shrine next week.
Koizumi's visit, set for next Wednesday, to Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo is opposed by South Korea and other Asian countries invaded by Japan before and during the war.
The shrine venerates Japanese war dead, including war criminals hanged by the victorious Allies after World War II.
"We strongly urge the Japanese official to scrap his plan to visit Yasukuni Shrine," Jeon Yong-Hak, spokesman for Seoul's ruling Millennium Democratic Party, said in a statement.
The spokesman warned that Koizumi's Yasukuni visit would have a negative impact on Seoul-Tokyo ties and Asian peace.
China has also protested, further straining ties with Japan following a row over Tokyo's school history textbooks criticised for glossing over wartime atrocities.
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