South Korea summons Japan envoy over war shrine visits, Abe remarks

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea summoned the Japanese ambassador in Seoul on Thursday in protest over visits by senior officials and lawmakers to a shrine seen by Japan's neighbors as a symbol of wartime aggression, the Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea's Yonhap said the South's foreign ministry had called in Tokyo's envoy in protest over the shrine visits and comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

China and South Korea chastised Japan after more than 160 lawmakers visited Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine this week.

That followed a symbolic offering made by Abe to the shrine and a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and two other ministers at the weekend.

Such visits to the shrine, a regular occurrence during religious festivals, have long angered Asian nations where the scars of Japan's past militarism still run deep.

The shrine honors Japan's war dead, as well as 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal.

Earlier this week, South Korea's foreign minister canceled a trip to Tokyo, and Beijing said this week's events showed Japanese leaders continued to deny the nation's militaristic past.

Abe, however, was unapologetic.

"It is only natural to honor the spirits of the war dead who gave their lives for the country. Our ministers will not cave in to any threats," Abe told a parliamentary panel on Wednesday.

"It is also my job to protect our pride, which rests on history and tradition."

While defending his actions, Abe also said he was open to dialogue with China and others. Tokyo was also discussing a possible trip by defense officials to Beijing to ease tensions.

Japanese media said the delegation could leave as soon as Thursday, but the defense ministry said details were still being worked out.

Tensions also heated up in a Sino-Japanese row over disputed islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, after a flotilla carrying Japanese nationalists sailed near the rocky islets and China sent eight surveillance ships.

The recurring flare-ups in tensions between Japan, South Korea and China have been a source of concern for Washington, which is keen to secure cooperation from Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing in reining in reclusive North Korea.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park in SEOUL and Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO; Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Paul Tait)

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U.N. hopes to approve Congo force by end of March: Russian envoy

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council hopes to approve by the end of March a special force to combat rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but some members have concerns that need to be addressed first, Russia's U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday.

While Churkin did not divulge these concerns, some diplomats worry the creation of the intervention force within the existing peacekeeping operation, known as MONUSCO, could lead to two competing units. They want more detail on the new unit's command structure.

"We think it's very important that the intervention force is fully integrated into MONUSCO," said one senior council envoy, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "I don't see opposition" to the proposal, he said, "but we need a lot of clarification."

South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique are the most likely candidates to supply the several thousand soldiers needed for the intervention force, but diplomats have questions about the ability of those troops to take on the rebel groups, including the M23, which have taken parts of eastern Congo.

"A lot of hard work is ahead of us in the next few weeks," Churkin told reporters after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the 15-member council on his proposal to strengthen and define MONUSCO's mandate and create the intervention force.

"There are some issues to be sorted out ... Hopefully by the end of the month we will be able to adopt that mandate" resolution, said Churkin.

M23 began taking parts of eastern Congo early last year, accusing the government of failing to honor a 2009 peace deal. That deal ended a previous rebellion and led to the rebels' integration into the army, but they have since deserted.

"The intervention brigade will be tasked with containing the expansion of both Congolese and foreign armed groups, neutralizing these groups, and disarming them," Ban told the Security Council on Tuesday.

In practical terms, U.N. diplomats say, troops in the brigade will have more freedom to open fire without being required to wait until they are attacked first, a limitation that is standard for U.N. peacekeepers deployed around the world.

African leaders signed a U.N .-mediated deal late last month aimed at ending two decades of conflict in Congo's east and paving the way for the intervention force.

At least 70 people were killed and thousands more fled their homes after days of fighting between rebels and government forces in eastern Congo, aid agencies said on Tuesday.

The clashes that began last week underline the complex nature of the conflict in eastern Congo, where personal and local grievances fuel a wider battle between armed groups and the ill-disciplined army for control of land and the region's rich mineral deposits.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

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