|
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday denied allegations by Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura that Korean President Roh Moo-hyun omitted to protest against Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine when the two leaders met in December.
"During the summit in Kagoshima, Japan in December, President Roh commented to Prime Minister Koizumi about the Yasukuni Shrine," Ban said, adding Machimura's statement was "mistaken."
The government quoted President Roh from released and confidential minutes of the meeting as saying, "I hope that there are as few incidents as possible such as prominent statements, and if the Japanese were to make a decision about historical distortions or visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a solution to [bilateral problems] would become easier." A Foreign Ministry official said Machimura was present at the time.
Koizumi has several times visited the Yasukuni shrine dedicated to Japan's war dead and housing memorials to war criminals in defiance of international protests.
Machimura said Wednesday criticism by Roh of Koizumi's visits in a "letter to the people" on March 25 was "extremely regretful" after Roh "said nothing when the two leaders met face-to-face." This was seen as in part a response to Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young slamming Koizumi as "rude" for saying an address by President Roh on March 1 that promised to get tough with Japan was intended "for domestic consumption."
The Foreign Ministry in a statement said Thursday, "Since making comments based on the closed-door discussions between national leaders is inappropriate, and the comments differed from the facts, [the Japanese foreign minister's comments] were extremely regretful."
(Kwon Dae-yeol, dykwon@chosun.com )
|
