South Korea has officially denied a report by Kyodo News that it would accept a single visit by Japan's next prime minister to Yasukuni Shrine on condition that he make no more visits during his stint, calling the report "totally groundless."
The statement denying the report was issued Sunday by the South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry in response to a Kyodo report the previous day that quoted Japanese sources as saying South Korea and China would tolerate a single visit to the Tokyo shrine by the winner of the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in September. The president of the ruling party, by tradition, becomes prime minister.
The statement said the South Korean government could never accept such a deal.
China has also denied the report.
The sources told Kyodo that South Korea and China, hoping to improve poor ties with Japan, would make a "concession" in view of the fact that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a supporter of Koizumi's shrine visits, is likely to succeed him as prime minister.
Koizumi's annual visits to the Shinto shrine have enraged South Korea and China, where Japan's legacy of wartime brutality lingers. Beijing and Seoul argue the visits show Japan has not repented its past behavior.