Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) No.2 leader Ichiro Ozawa on Sunday indicated his support for separation of war memorial services for the war dead.  

Ozawa was quoted by Kyodo News as saying at a press conference in Nara, south Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, that the Tokyo-based Yasukuni Shrine is not a proper place to enshrine the 14 Class-A war criminals responsible for Japan's aggression war against its Asian neighbors.

"The shrine should only honor those war dead, it is not for the enshrinement of those responsible for war atrocities," Ozawa said, urging to separately deal with the memorial services for the war dead and the war criminals.

Earlier Sunday, secretaries general of Japan's two ruling parties indicated their support for establishing a nonreligious national memorial for the war dead.

Their comments were made the day before a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday in Seoul, at which Roh is expected to urge Koizumi to consider establishing a national memorial rather than visiting the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

An advisory panel to the then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda proposed in 2002 setting up a secular national war memorial to enable any person to commemorate the war dead.

Support for the idea is growing in Japan's ruling parties in light of worsening relations with China and South Korea because of Koizumi's Yasukuni Shrine visits and other issues.

But Koizumi on Friday rejected the suggestion, saying "I think it may be all right to consider setting up a facility at which people can mourn without feeling uncomfortable, but no facility will substitute for Yasukuni Shrine."

Koizumi has visited the notorious Yasukuni Shrine once a year since taking office in April 2001. Last month, the premier indicated a plan at a parliament meeting to again visit the shrine sometime this year.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2005)