Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Sunday attended a government war memorial service in Iwojima Island as the first sitting premier to visit the Pacific island, Kyodo News reported.  

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry asked the premier to attend the ceremony for the victims of the Battle of Iwojima at the newly renovated memorial.

Welfare Minister Hidehisa Otsuji and Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono also attended the event.

Following the ceremony, Koizumi dedicated flowers at the monument to the US soldiers on the island, Kyodo said.

More than 20,000 Japanese and 7,000 US soldiers died in the battle that continued for nearly one month from February to March of 1945 on the island, some 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2005)