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South Korea, Japan to meet amid sour relations on APEC sidelines
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-18 11:05
When they meet on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit that opens Friday,
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to prod his Japanese counterpart
to stop visiting a shrine that honors war criminals.
Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors are at their worst in decades
since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, now in his fifth year in office, has
insisted on annual visits to a Tokyo war shrine despite repeated demands from
China and South Korea to stop. Last month, Koizumi made his latest visit to the
shrine, where convicted World War II war criminals executed by the Allies are
honored at the shrine along with the nation's war dead.
Roh only last week agreed to meet Koizumi on the sidelines of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korean port of Busan in
the interest of hosting a harmonious event.
Koizumi showed no remorse before his departure Friday from Tokyo, choosing to
stress the booming economic and cultural ties between the two nations. He is to
meet later Friday with Roh.
"Japan-South Korean relations are good. There have been more exchanges than
ever in every field," Koizumi said, adding he was confident about gaining South
Korea's understanding.
"I would like to hold discussions with (Roh), keeping in mind the idea that
we should promote our friendly ties by not looking at one aspect but by looking
at the whole picture," Koizumi told reporters. "We have to look at things with a
long-term perspective."
Koizumi denies his visits show anything more than a renouncement of war and
respect for its victims. China, South Korea and other Asian nations, which see
the visits as a glorification of Japan's militarist past, have been outraged.
Many Koreans hold bitter feelings about Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the
peninsula.
Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao aren't scheduled to meet on the
sidelines of APEC.
Earlier this week, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso met his South Korean
counterpart Ban Ki-moon, who raised the shrine visit and called on Aso to
exercise leadership to fix the problem. But Aso got the cold shoulder from
China.
It remains unclear whether Roh will visit Japan in December as was scheduled
before Koizumi's shrine visit.
North Korea's nuclear program is also a likely topic for discussion between
Japan and South Korea. Both are involved in six-nation talks seeking to convince
Pyongyang to disarm.
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