South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon said Monday that until a row over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo is resolved, holding a summit between the South Korean and Japanese leaders would be difficult.

Ban also told a group of Japanese reporters that a summit is unlikely even after Koizumi steps down from office if his successor pays homage at the Shinto shrine.

Ban stressed that the Yasukuni issue ''could easily be solved'' if Koizumi and his successors choose not to visit the shrine which honors convicted Japanese war criminals along with the war dead.

On the relationship between the two nations, Ban said the present situation is ''unfavorable'' to holding a summit, especially to South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun making a visit to Japan.

''Holding a summit will be difficult unless the issues involving the difference between historical perceptions are overcome,'' he told the reporters.

Japanese and South Korean leaders began engaging in ''shuttle diplomacy'' in July 2004, meeting twice a year in each country in an informal atmosphere.

The two nations had initially agreed on arranging talks between Koizumi and Roh in Japan by the end of last year. The summit, however, did not materialize because South Korea is angered by Koizumi's repeated visits to the shrine.

Koizumi last visited the shrine on Oct. 17, despite repeated protests from South Korea and China.

Ban reiterated hope that Japan will build a secular war memorial, saying it would be ''one way to solve the Yasukuni issue.''

Referring also to the rift over a controversial Japanese history textbook and a territorial dispute over the South Korea-held islands known to it as Dokdo and to Japan as Takeshima, Ban said, ''Japan has all the keys for a solution.''

Source: Agencies