Japan's former ruling party official urges Koizumi to stop shrine visits

Koichi Kato, former Secretary General of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Friday again urged Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stop visiting the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Kato said at a live interview with TBS television that Koizumi should stop his Yasukuni visits because the issue is the major reason that damages Japan's relations with China and South Korea.

Asked about the solution on the issue, Kato said that the only way is to establish a new national war memorial to separate enshrinement of Class-A war criminals and ordinary war dead in the shrine.

Many Asian countries have strongly protested Japanese leaders' visits to the notorious shrine in Tokyo, which honors 14 convicted World War II Class-A war criminals, responsible for Japan's aggression war against its Asian neighbors.

Koizumi has paid annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine since he took office in 2001. Last month, he indicated a plan to visit the shrine again sometime this year.

Source: Xinhua