Ban slams shrine visit, casts doubt on summit

Visiting South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon on Thursday denounced Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit last week to Yasukuni Shrine and said President Roh Moo Hyun may not come to Japan in December as planned.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051028a3a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='203'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura –

shakes hands with his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki Moon before their meeting in Tokyo.

Ban made the comments in an evening meeting with Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura -- the first ministerial talks Japan and South Korea have held since Koizumi's fifth visit to the contentious shrine on Oct. 17.