Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit China and South Korea before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meets this month in Shanghai, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday.
Koizumi plans to visit China on Monday and South Korea on Oct. 15 in an effort to mend diplomatic ties, Fukuda told a news conference.
Koizumi damaged relations with China and South Korea on Aug. 13 when he visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors war criminals along with Japan's war dead.
The countries were also angered when the government approved Japanese history textbooks that critics say whitewash Japanese atrocities that were committed before and during World War II.
The prime minister -- who has repeatedly said he wants to visit the two countries as soon as possible -- has sent letters to Chinese President Jiang Zemin and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung to mend ties, but the two leaders demanded specific action. Koizumi may explain Japan's view of history in some form during the meetings, but this is only one of the options being discussed, the sources said.
At the APEC summits on Oct. 20 and 21, the prime minister also plans to reaffirm cooperation with the two countries over antiterrorism efforts in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the sources said.
Koizumi is especially keen to mend relations with South Korea at an early date, because the two countries will host the World Cup soccer finals next year, they said.