Cheong Wa Dae Baffled by Japanese Media Game

A controversy arose as it was revealed that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sent a letter date Aug. 28to President Kim Dae-Jung, but Cheon Wa Dae and the Korean government kept that fact in secret according to the request from Japan.

It was known that in the letter, Koizumi ∆ expressed regret over his failure to meet President Kim at the U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Children due to other matters ∆ attempted to elucidate his visit to Yasukuni Shrine and the issue of history text book ∆ wanted to hold a bilateral summit conference as soon as possible to discuss various matters. Cheong Wa Dae was known to have ordered not to open this letter to the public.

A government official said `` the Japanese government requested to make this letter confidential and we agreed.``, and continued ``the Japanese government was reluctant to publicize this letter probably because of its political circumstances.`` This implied that the Korean government agreed that the letter might cause critiques from right-wing groups in Japan.

But some governmental officials pointed out ``it is a typical Japanese diplomatic tactic to request the government of the partner country to keep secret while letting out the news to the media of its own country, and it seems the Korean government was taken in that trick tactic.``

One government official criticized that ``it was the time that anti-Japan sentiment, caused by Koizumi`s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and the distortion of history in textbooks, was furious.`` and added that ``even though the Korean government concerned about the opinions of the Japanese government regardless of the national sentiment, it appeared to have been played a trick by the Japanese government and media.``

The government reportedly began to investigate how the deliverance of the letter was known to some Japanese press, and planed to make a strong protest to the Japanese government through diplomatic channels if it was proved responsible.

Boo Hyung-Kwon bookum90@donga.com