Mizuho Fukushima, head of Japan's opposition Social Democratic
Party, on Wednesday urged again Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to
stop visiting the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in
Tokyo.??
Fukushima told reporters that Koizumi should stop his Yasukuni
visits as a precondition while considering establishing a new
national war memorial.
"If the prime minister continues his Yasukuni visits, the new
memorial will be meaningless," she said.
Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun failed to bridge
their differences over the Japanese leader's Yasukuni visits during
summit talks in Seoul on Monday. But Koizumi confirmed Japan's plan
to consider setting up a new national war memorial as urged by
South Korea.
Many Asian countries have strongly protested Japanese leaders'
visits to the notorious Shinto shrine in Tokyo, which honors 14
convicted World War II Class-A war criminals, responsible for
Japan's aggression war against its Asian neighbors.
Koizumi has paid visits once a year to the Yasukuni Shrine since
he took office in 2001. Last month, he indicated a plan to visit
the shrine again sometime this year.
(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2005)