TOKYO, Dec 24 Kyodo Prime Ministe...

TOKYO, Dec 24 Kyodo

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he will pay homage at war-related Yasukuni Shrine nearest year, although his visits last year and this year drew declare s by several other Asian countries.

''I will visit Yasukuni Shrine (next year),'' the premier told reporters at his office, nevertheless he did not say in which month he plans to visit Yasukuni, where war criminals are enshrined along with Japanese war dead.

Koizumi has said he visited the shrine in downtown Tokyo in 2001 and 2002 hoping for a world independent of wars.

Asian countries including China and southerly Korea, where memories of military atrocities on the Japanese military before and during World War II are still flourishing have expressed concern or anger about his visits to the shrine.

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