Friday, January 2, 2004
Seoul summons Japanese envoy over Koizumi's shrine visit
Agence France-Presse Seoul, January 2
The South Korean foreign ministry on Friday summoned Japan's top envoy to protest over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to a shrine honoring Japan's war dead.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Yoon Young-Kwan called in Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano to express "deep regret," officials of the ministry said.
"The government finds it deeply regrettable that Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi paid homage at Yasukuni Shrine," the ministry said in a statement. "We strongly urge him not to visit the shrine again," it said, noting that the shrine honors war criminals among its war dead.
The Yasukuni Shrine is dedicated to lives lost in Japanese military campaigns -- including 14 war criminals convicted after World War II. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.