South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's summit with Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would depend on Japan's attitude following Abe's formal inauguration, a top aide for the president said Tuesday.
"We'll continue to watch the situation in Japan. Without any (affirmative) gesture from there, we'll stick to our previous stance regarding a South Korea-Japan summit," said the aide, asking to remain anonymous.
"What is important are actions, not words," he said, refusing to put forward any preconditions for a summit between Roh and Abe.
Asked about the possibility of a Roh-Abe summit taking place prior to the APEC summit, slated for Nov. 18-19 in Vietnam, the aide said that "all possibilities will remain open."
South Korea and Japan have not held a summit meeting since Roh and outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Busan in November last year.
Koizumi's repeat visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and Japan's history distortions and unjustified territorial claims have enraged South Korea, China and other regional countries.
Seoul, Sept. 26 (Yonhap News)
Roh's office says summit with Abe depends on Japanese attitude |
