Key facts
- Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will not attend the Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD).
- The decision is linked to Koizumi's recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.
- A Japanese vice defense minister will represent Tokyo at the forum.
- Koizumi and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back were expected to hold bilateral talks.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is expected to skip an annual security forum in Seoul, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. The move is seen as related to his recent visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which has drawn criticism from Seoul.
Koizumi will not attend the Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD), scheduled for Monday through Wednesday. A vice defense minister from Japan will attend in his place, Seoul's defense ministry confirmed. Koizumi's attendance had been widely anticipated, especially given the recent warming of bilateral relations and brisk high-level defense diplomacy between the two neighbors. His predecessor, Gen Kanatani, had attended last year's SDD.
While the specific reason for his absence is not officially stated, Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II, is considered a likely factor. The shrine honors Japanese war dead, including convicted Class A war criminals, and visits by Japanese leaders have historically drawn condemnation from neighboring countries that view them as glorifying Japan's militaristic past.