Japan PM says wants to meet S.Korea's Kim
( 2001-08-15 15:59) (7)
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Wednesday he would like to meet South Korean President Kim Dae-jung to try to improve ties strained by the Japanese leader's visit to a controversial war shrine.
South Korea and other Asian countries have been outraged by Koizumi's visit on Monday to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, where convicted war criminals are also honoured, as well as by Japan's approval of a history textbook that accused of whitewashing its wartime atrocities.
"Different countries have different perspectives on history, but I think we all share the same goal of deepening friendly ties," Koizumi told reporters when asked how he viewed Kim's sharp criticism of his visit to Yasukuni.
"If the situation permits, I would like to hold talks to discuss what we should do to improve such ties," he added.
Kim had sharp words for Tokyo on Wednesday, the anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two and South Korea's Liberation Day marking its independence from Japan's harsh colonial rule.
"How can we make good friends with people who try to forget and ignore the many pains they inflicted on us? How can we deal with them in the future with any degree of trust," he said in a speech.
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