South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Friday demanded Japan to take concrete "action" rather than make "apologies" for the atrocities inflicted during its colonization of Korea and aggression in the Asian region before and during World War II.

"We call on Japanese leaders not to make new apologies but to make actions suitable for the apologies already made," Roh told a group of visiting Japanese politicians at Cheong Wa Dae.

"In this context, we are not demanding any new apologies from Japan."

Roh was responding to earlier remarks by Tsutomu Takebe, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),that a personal letter he recently carried from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi must have contained a similar apology to the one Koizumi made in Bandung on April 22.

In the April speech to a meeting of Asian and African leaders, Koizumi expressed his "deep remorse" for Japan's past atrocities, saying that, "Japan caused great damage and suffering to many countries, especially Asian nations, through its colonial rule (of Korea) and aggression."

"We will never become a military power, although we are becoming an economic power," he added. "We will stick to our position of resolving any problems through a peaceful manner without resorting to force."

Source: Xinhua