S. Korean President raps Japan for distorting history

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has denounced Japan for distorting history and attempting to justify its militarist past.

During an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the South Korean President said Japan's glorification of its past aggression has a negative impact on the entire world.

Discussing the adoption of new controversial history textbooks, Roh Moo-hyun said the texts gloss over Japan's past and justify the country's war of aggression before and during World War II.

Also on Friday, Malaysian Deputy Home Affairs Minister Tan Chai Ho told a commemorative meeting in Kuala Lumpur that Japan has demonstrated its militarist policy by adopting the history textbooks and Japanese leaders' continued visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.

The shrine honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class A war criminals.

Source: Xinhua/CRI news