S.Korea rebuffs Japan vice FM's regret expression

South Korea on Saturday rebuffed the expression of "regret" by Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi over his recent remarks on Seoul-Washington ties.

"His remarks, which cannot help being seen as disparaging our government and breeding conflicts on the (South Korea-US) alliance,is not the thing that can be ended with the expression of regret,"the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On May 11, Yachi told visiting South Korean lawmakers that Japan cannot fully share the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) related intelligence with the South because Washington does not have sufficient trust in Seoul.

The South Korean government demanded Japan discipline the senior diplomat and make apology for the remarks. Seoul summoned Japan's Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano on Thursday to lodge protest over Yachi's remarks.

On Friday, Yachi offered his regret over the remarks, saying hehad intended to emphasize the importance of strengthening trilateral ties between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.

"Our government will not view the remarks as an individual issue, and will study the future direction of South Korea-Japan relations by considering them comprehensively together with other remarks distorting the history," the statement said.

The Seoul-Tokyo ties experienced a cold time earlier this year due to their quarrels over a group of controversial islets located in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and Japan's authorization of the Japanese history school books distorting its aggression past.

Source: Xinhua