Mizuho Fukushima, head of Japan's opposition Social Democratic Party, on Wednesday urged again Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stop visiting the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.??

Fukushima told reporters that Koizumi should stop his Yasukuni visits as a precondition while considering establishing a new national war memorial.

 

"If the prime minister continues his Yasukuni visits, the new memorial will be meaningless," she said.

 

Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun failed to bridge their differences over the Japanese leader's Yasukuni visits during summit talks in Seoul on Monday. But Koizumi confirmed Japan's plan to consider setting up a new national war memorial as urged by South Korea.

 

Many Asian countries have strongly protested Japanese leaders' visits to the notorious Shinto 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 visits once a year to the Yasukuni Shrine since he took office in 2001. Last month, he indicated a plan to visit the shrine again sometime this year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2005)