Japan PM blasts Korea`s decision not to extradite arsonist

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday expressed regret over a Korean court’s decision not to extradite to Japan Liu Chang, a Chinese national who committed arson at the maligned Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

In a news conference in Ise, Mie Prefecture, Abe said of the Seoul High Court’s ruling, “I have strong regret. I want to make a strong appeal.”

With a variable emerging unexpectedly just before the prime minister`s special envoy`s meeting with Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye, bilateral relations are seeing a subtle co-existence of tension and mood of reconciliation.

Japanese Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai also told Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo over the phone, “The attempt to set Yasukuni on fire does not constitute a cause for denial of extradition under a bilateral extradition treaty. The Korean court’s ruling is very regrettable.”

Banri Kaieda, chairman of the progressive Democratic Party of Japan, also said, “A political prisoner refers to a person who is oppressed due to political ideology and beliefs,” adding, “(Liu) committed a crime.”

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