Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to delay his annual visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine to next fall from Aug. 15 to avoid a diplomatic conflict with South Korea and China, Japan's Tokyo Shimbun reported Sunday, citing a number of government and ruling party officials.
"If Abe is determined to make a pilgrimage to the shrine once a year, next year's timing could be in the fall, instead of August," said the report.
Abe made a secret visit to Yasukuni on April 15, when he was chief Cabinet secretary. Aug. 15 marks Japan's surrender to the Allied forces in 1945, as well as Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Tokyo shrine, where World War II criminals are enshrined along with other war dead, resulted in South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun canceling all trips to Japan for more than a year.
When Abe visited Seoul in October after his inauguration, Roh said he was willing to resume his Japan visits on the condition that Tokyo stops glorifying its wartime past and its leaders stop paying visits to the shrine.
Tokyo, Dec. 31 (Yonhap News)
Abe said to be mulling Yasukuni visit next fall: Tokyo Shimbun |
