Rocky start to Koizumi's APEC visit<\/p>\n
Elaine Lies, Reuters\/Pusan, South Korea<\/p>\n
Japan's prime minister got off to a rocky start at a summit
\nmeeting of Pacific Rim leaders on Friday as host South Korea
\nbluntly told him to stop his regular visits to a shrine honoring
\nJapan's war dead.<\/p>\n
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun told Japan's Junichiro
\nKoizumi that Seoul was not interested in more apologies or
\nnational reparations, but wanted to see the visits cease.<\/p>\n
It also wanted textbooks amended to address inaccuracies about
\nJapan's role in World War Two and a territorial dispute over a
\nrocky outcrop that lies midway between the two countries
\nresolved.<\/p>\n
\"When we say we don't call on Japan to apologize anymore, it
\nmeans actions are what is important, rather than repeated
\napologies,\" Roh's foreign policy adviser told reporters.<\/p>\n
A Japanese foreign ministry official quoted Roh as saying:
\n\"The prime minister's visits, and those of other politicians, are
\na challenge to South Korea and give the feeling that Japan may be
\nreturning to the past.\"<\/p>\n
Koizumi is feeling increasingly isolated in the Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum given the disputes over a
\nvariety of issues ranging from territorial feuds to Asian anger
\nover the Yasukuni shrine visits.<\/p>\n
Roh and Chinese President Hu Jintao raised the pressure on
\nWednesday by agreeing that \"a neighboring country\" -- clearly
\nJapan -- had damaged friendship in the region by failing to own
\nup fully to its past.<\/p>\n
The summit with Roh was one of several on the sidelines of the
\nAPEC summit on Friday at which Koizumi emphasized friendship and
\ngoodwill with all, starting with China.<\/p>\n
\"There are nations that are worried about our relationship
\nwith China,\" he was quoted as saying by a Japanese foreign
\nministry official. \"But friendship with China is important.\"<\/p>\n
China has rebuffed Japanese overtures for a bilateral summit
\nat APEC.<\/p>\n
Koizumi also said that he had reconfirmed Japan's friendly
\nrelations with Peru, which has recalled its envoy and warned
\nTokyo not to interfere in efforts to get former Peruvian
\npresident Alberto Fujimori extradited from Chile.<\/p>\n
Fujimori, accused in Peru of corruption and authorizing death
\nsquads during his 1990-2000 rule, fled to Japan five years ago
\nand made a surprise visit to Chile this month where he was
\npromptly arrested.<\/p>\n
Tokyo had declined requests to hand him over to Lima on the
\ngrounds that Fujimori, the son of Japanese immigrants to Peru, is
\na Japanese citizen.<\/p>\n
Tokyo however declined Peru's request for President Alejandro
\nToledo to meet Koizumi, saying the Japanese leader's schedule was
\nfull.<\/p>\n
Koizumi also appeared eager to mollify Russia, with which
\nJapan remains remain mired in a territorial feud over four
\nislands that has blocked the signing of a formal World War II
\nPeace treaty 60 years after the war's end.<\/p>\n
\"Even given this problem, we will further our friendship and
\naim towards a solution,\" he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
President Vladimir Putin is to visit Tokyo next week.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rocky-start-to-koizumis-apec-visit-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }