Kim Jong Pil, honorary president of South Korea's United Liberal Democrats, called on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to "show sincerity" toward the Korean people during a Saturday meeting with Japanese lawmakers here.
The remark was taken to indicate that Seoul believes Japan must take some sort of action to patch up bilateral relations after such thorny issues as Koizumi's visit earlier this month to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including war criminals.
"I would like Prime Minister Koizumi to show sincerity to South Koreans," Kim, a former South Korean prime minister, was quoted as saying during a meeting with former Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe after attending a ceremony to unveil a cenotaph honoring Korean delegations to Japan during the 17th to 19th centuries.
At the same time, Kim added that both nations must make efforts to not let such issues drag on, given that they are to cohost the 2002 World Cup soccer finals next year.