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In a to and fro of regret between the two neighbors, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura has criticized Korean President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s March 25 "letter to the people" in which he declared diplomatic war on Japan.
Machimura singled out a passage where Roh said Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi¡¯s visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine dedicated to Japan's war dead "spoils the sincerity of the reflection and apologies made by previous Japanese leaders." Machimura called it "extremely regretful that President Roh expressed himself in that manner after he said nothing when the two leaders exchanged frank discussions.¡±
He told the House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee session the two leaders "had the chance to spend the night engaging in frank discussion" in December at the hot spring resort of Ibusuki in Kagoshima Prefecture, "but I don¡¯t recall [President Roh] raising the Yasukuni Shrine issue in this manner. In this sense, [Roh¡¯s letter] was very regretful,¡± he said.
Meanwhile, Vice Foreign Minister Aisawa Ichiro told the Diet on Wednesday his ministry protested to the Korean embassy in Tokyo about the landing on Monday of 60 Korean tourists on the Dokdo islets. ¡°The landing of ordinary Korean tourists on the Dokdo islets was very regretful,¡± he said.
He said he sent Kenichiro Sasae, the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry¡¯s Asia-Oceania bureau, to the Korean embassy to protest.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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