TOKYO - A top Japanese diplomat expressed regret on Friday for sparking a row with South Korea over his private remarks that Washington no longer trusted Seoul in dealing with North Korea. "I had intended to emphasize the importance of strengthening alliances between Japan and South Korea and between Japan and the United States," the diplomat, Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, told reporters. "It is regrettable if the remarks have invited a misunderstanding by causing an argument of various forms in South Korea," he added.
| Cheez, buddy, you call yourself a diplomat and yet you were speaking the truth? |
Yachi, most senior of the career diplomats at the foreign ministry, was quoted as telling South Korean lawmakers that Tokyo was "cautious about sharing intelligence with Seoul" because of Washington's distrust.
He was meeting in Tokyo with a five-member delegation from South Korea's National Assembly defence committee on May 11.
The comments revealed rifts between the allies as they work to resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons drive. With Japan's relations with neighboring South Korea and China already strained, Seoul on Thursday demanded a public apology from Tokyo for Yachi's comment.
But Yachi was also alarmed his remarks were made public although he spoke in a private capacity. "I am embarrassed by the fact that the comments, which were made in an informal exchange of views, have been made known externally," he said.
| And now you know five people you can never trust again. |
A top Japanese foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was earlier quoted saying by the Asahi Shimbun: "If things like this happen we will no longer be able to hold unofficial talks."
Yachi had reportedly said South Korea was seen shifting toward North Korea, whose main ally is China. |