Japan negotiating summits with China, S Korea

Tokyo, Oct 2: Japan is trying to set a date for a fence-mending summit between its new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun, while also trying to bring about a summit with China, Tokyo's top government spokesman said today.

Both countries' leaders refused to meet Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, because of his visits to a Tokyo war shrine seen by many as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.

Abe, who took over as prime minister last week, has declined to say if he will visit Yasukuni shrine while he is in office.

Media reports said he paid his respects at Yasukuni in private earlier in the year.

''Concerning the Japan-South Korea summit, we are in negotiations about the date,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters. ''Nothing is decided at this point.'' The comments came amid speculation that Abe would visit both countries in a single trip as soon as this weekend.

''On China, Japan has always said its door is wide open and both sides are making efforts to bring about a summit,'' Shiozaki said.

Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun said on Monday that Abe was likely to visit China on Oct. 8 and South Korea the following day.

''Personally, I think it would be desirable for the two meetings to take place at the same time,'' Mr Shiozaki said.

China and Japan have not held a summit since April last year and the South Korean and Japanese leaders have not met formally since last November.

Yasukuni shrine honours Japanese World War Two leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as ''Class A'' war criminals alongside more than two million war dead.

A war museum on its premises has been criticised for presenting a one-sided view of the conflict.

REUTERS