Protests continued Friday in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day.
In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young Kwan summoned Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano to the ministry, telling him that Seoul considered the trip "deeply regrettable."
He also urged Koizumi to stop these visits -- the most outright demand issued by South Korea thus far concerning Koizumi's repeated pilgrimages to the Shinto shrine.