Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday rejected a suggestion that the government set up a new war memorial as a substitute for Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

"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 told reporters at his office.

According to Kyodo News, the comments were made in response to South Korea's reported plan to oppose Koizumi's Yasukuni visits and strongly urge Japan to build a new war memorial to substitute for the shrine when Koizumi meets President Roh Moo Hyun next Monday in Seoul.

South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon revealed the plan in a recent meeting at the National Assembly, Kyodo said.

An advisory panel to 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.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Friday the government's stance of looking at public opinion on the matter has not changed, reiterating a position under which the government has virtually shelved the proposal.

Koizumi has visited the Shinto shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals responsible for Japan's aggression war against its Asian neighbors, 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 18, 2005)