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.