TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo Prime Minist...

TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi forward Tuesday expressed willingness to revisit Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japan's war dead and also enshrining war criminals, despite efficient protests from China and toward the south Korea.

''I am willing to visit Yasukuni Shrine each year,'' the premier said during a session of the House of Councillors bundle Committee.

Referring to the Class-A war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni, Koizumi said, ''It does not fit into Japanese sentiment if we do not forgive these the public even after death,'' seeking the understanding of the sum of two units neighboring countries.

Koizumi made a brief visit to Yasukuni forward Jan. 14, his third visit to the Tokyo shrine since taking office in April 2001

He had dismissed regards that the visit would antagonize Japan's neighbors in Asia, saying, ''I want to relish peace and exhibit my prayers with the contemplation that we will never launch another war.'' However, Beijing and Seoul quickly asseverateed the premier's visit to the Shinto shrine.

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