UN chief calls for 'correct awareness' in Japan about aggressive imperial history

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged some soul-searching by Japan over its past, calling renewed rows with China and the Republic of Korea over Tokyo's modern imperial-era history "very regrettable".

Tokyo's relations with its neighbors have been regularly strained by the legacy of Japan's wartime aggression, as well as territorial disputes.

"I find it very regrettable that the tension (among the three Northeast Asian countries) continues due to issues of history and other political reasons," Ban told reporters during his visit to Seoul this week.

"We need determination by political leaders. Correct awareness about history is needed," said Ban, a former ROK foreign minister. Tokyo's political leaders should indulge in some "very deep introspection" Ban said, especially with regard to moves in Japan to revise its pacifist Constitution.

The latest bout of regional tension was sparked by the visit this month of Japanese ministers and politicians to a controversial shrine in Tokyo that honors the World War II dead including several top war criminals.

The shrine is seen as a symbol of Tokyo's aggressive imperial past by China and the ROK, both of which reacted angrily to the visits.

Ban said on Monday he is mulling a visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea amid easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Ban said he would review visiting the DPRK "at a proper time" after consulting with the DPRK and ROK authorities.

Ban said inter-Korean relations were in the process of making progress, citing agreements between Seoul and Pyongyang to reopen the joint industrial complex in the DPRK border town of Kaesong and to hold reunion of families separated by the Korean War (1950-53).

Ban stressed he would do "whatever he can" for the constructive development of inter-Korean relations, noting that the parties concerned should first seek to solve problems on the peninsula through dialogue.

On Aug 14, the countries reached an agreement to normalize the Kaesong Industrial Complex that has been halted for more than four months by agreeing on joint efforts to prevent a recurrence of the unilateral shutdown of the park in the future.

Nine days later, the ROK and the DPRK agreed to hold family reunions at the scenic resort in Mount Kumgang for six days from Sept 25, while opening the door for negotiations on resuming suspended tours to Mount Kumgang.

AFP-Xinhua

(China Daily 08/27/2013 page10)