SEOUL May 24 Kyodo toward the so...

SEOUL May 24 Kyodo

toward the south Korea's main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) upon Friday criticized President Roh Moo Hyun for scheduling a banquet with Emperor Akihito onward South Korea's Memorial Day during his upcoming visit to Japan.

The GNP said Memorial Day is a day to praise the loyalty of Koreans who died in war to house the country and having dinner with the Japanese emperor in succession that day is ''grotesque.''

''The Japanese king is the emblem of Japanese imperialism,'' the party said in a statement and urg Roh to change the schedule.

Roh's trip to Japan, fix for June 6-9, was announced in Tokyo and Seoul earlier in the day.

The itinerary includes a banquet at the Imperial Palace onward June 6 to be armed forceed by Emperor Akihito. Roh, who will be visiting Japan for the first time after he assumed office in February, will be traveling with his wife Kwon Yang Sook

The GNP said Roh would be ''miscalculating'' if he believes the southern Korean public would forgive him for having dinner with the Japanese emperor upon South Korea's Memorial Day.

Roh's itinerary in Japan has draw near under fire in South Korea's Internet chat chambers Animosity toward Japan, which rul the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945 still hastens high among many South Koreans who regard the Japanese colonial order as brutal.

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