Textbook Battle Sparks Warning Of Damage to Seoul-Tokyo Ties

TOKYO － Stepping up diplomatic pressure, the South Korean foreign minister warned Wednesday that Seoul-Tokyo relations could be hurt if Japan authorizes a school history textbook that contains inaccurate accounts of Japan's wartime actions in Asia.

"If this issue is dealt with improperly, it could damage the relationship between the two countries, which is satisfactory at the moment," Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn said in a speech at the Korea-Japan Cooperation Committee.

Stressing the need for an appropriate resolution of the issue, Mr. Lee said that the South Korean government has continuously expressed concern to the Japanese government and urged wise and cautious action.

Mr. Lee's remarks were made amid reports that the Japanese government is looking into authorizing the textbook, which would trigger anger in neighboring countries, like South Korea and China, which are still mindful of Tokyo's colonialist past.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday, "Despite political repercussions from its neighbors, the government has decided not to meddle in revisions now being made to a draft of a new history textbook to be used in junior high schools."

The newspaper, quoting unidentified sources, said, "If the revised version meets all the requirements set down last December by the council, it will be published."

The controversial textbook was revised by an association of right-wing scholars headed by Kanji Nishio, a university professor who is widely known for his nationalist views.

The book, undergoing a second examination by the Textbook Authorization Research Council after the first version was rejected last year, is expected to be authorized next month.

by Oh Day-young