South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon on Friday called on Japan to establish some kind of neutral memorial to replace the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.

According to Yoshinori Katori, the press secretary of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Ban Ki Moon made the remarks when meeting with his Japanese counterpart Nobutaka Machimura in New York.

The South Korean government expressed the hope that Japan might consider establishing a kind of "neutral memorial" to honor the Japanese people who died during the wars," Katori said.

"This is a very important domestic question, and Japanese government would continue to study the issue and take into account of the public opinion of Japan," Machimura was quoted as saying.

Katori also noted that Japan is not satisfied with the public opinion of the South Korean people towards Japanese people for the time being.

"There are more critical opinion, especially recently," he explained, adding "nevertheless, Japan and South Korea have a close relationship."

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2005)