S. Korean's Ban urges Japanese leaders to 'correct' history

SEOUL, Dec. 19 Kyodo

South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon urged Japanese political leaders Monday to have a correct understanding of the past.

''I would like to remind Japanese political leaders to have a correct understanding of history and the will to carry it into practice,'' Ban said in a brief speech at a meeting of senior ministry officials, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Ban's remarks were apparently referring to bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo mainly due to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

In the speech, Ban also expressed regret that Seoul-Tokyo relations have soured in a year designated to further promote friendship in marking the 40th anniversary of normalizing bilateral relations.

''It is very regrettable that relations between (South) Korea and Japan have been strained due to the historical and territorial disputes in the year, when the two nations were to lay the groundwork for 'future-oriented ties','' Ban was quoted as saying.

In March, the local assembly in Japan's Shimane Prefecture approved a motion to renew Japan's claim over South Korea-controlled Dokdo islets, known as Takeshima in Japan, triggering outrage in South Korea.

Koizumi has visited Yasukuni Shrine, which honors convicted World War II criminals, along with war dead, once a year since taking office in April 2001. He made his fifth visit Oct. 17.

China and South Korea, which suffered Japanese colonial aggression before and during World War II, have been vociferous in protesting visits by prime ministers to the shrine.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning