South Korean foreign minister to visit Japan<\/p>\n
Reuters, Tokyo<\/p>\n
South Korea's foreign minister, who last week canceled a planned
\ntrip to Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's
\nvisit to a Tokyo shrine for war dead, will visit this week after
\nall, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Beijing and Seoul protested last week after Koizumi paid his
\nrespects at Yasukuni shrine, seen by many in China and Korea as a
\nsymbol of Japan's past militarism, but the announcement of the
\nvisit by Ban Ki-moon is the latest sign that the furor may be
\ndying down.<\/p>\n
Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Ban would
\nvisit Tokyo from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29 for discussions on a variety
\nof issues with Japanese counterpart Nobutaka Machimura as well as
\nKoizumi.<\/p>\n
Ban said last Wednesday he did not think the mood was
\n\"appropriate\" for such a trip.<\/p>\n
His announcement came after China called off a planned visit
\nby Machimura. South Korea has also said President Roh Moo-hyun
\nwas unlikely to meet Koizumi for their semi-annual summit.<\/p>\n
Koizumi was quoted by Kyodo news agency as telling reporters
\non Monday, though, that he thought South Korea was \"level-headed\"
\nabout his visit to the shrine on Oct. 17, his fifth since taking
\noffice.<\/p>\n
\"Friendship between Japan and South Korea has not changed,\"
\nKoizumi said, following a meeting with political ally Taku
\nYamasaki, who went to South Korea last week.<\/p>\n
Koizumi's pilgrimage threatened to worsen already strained
\nties with China, the site of angry protests against Japan in
\nApril. But no major boycotts or demonstrations have been seen in
\nChina so far.<\/p>\n
Japanese business executives had also worried that the strains
\nwould damage economic relations between China and Japan, which
\nhave annual trade worth about US$212 billion.<\/p>\n
But according to a survey by the Japanese economic daily Nihon
\nKeizai, 20 operators of department stores, supermarkets and
\nelectronics stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing
\ndetected no sign of consumers boycotting Japanese goods.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/south-korean-foreign-minister-to-visit-japan-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}