The government plans to have Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hold talks with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Shanghai in October to try to mend soured relations, government sources said.
Koizumi will try to restore relations with the two neighbors, who were angered by his visit Monday to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to Japan's war dead, the sources said Tuesday.
He is expected to tell Chinese President Jiang Zemin and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung that his visit was meant as a way of paying homage to all Japanese who lost their lives during the war, the sources said.