Tearful Koizumi rejects criticism

TOKYO - A tearful Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday rejected criticism by China and South Korea of his visits to a Tokyo war shrine, but added he was committed to developing friendly ties with Beijing and Seoul.

Sino-Japanese ties have chilled markedly since Koizumi took office in 2001 and began annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine, where war criminals are honoured along with Japan's 2.5 million war dead.

Many in China and South Korea, where memories of Japan's military aggression run deep, see Yasukuni as a symbol of Tokyo's past militarism.

"I cannot understand why a foreign Government should intervene in a matter of the heart and make it a diplomatic issue," Koizumi said at his first news conference of the year, tears welling up in his eyes.

- REUTERS