Japan's self-defense forces event refused in S.Korea

SEOUL - Lotte hotel, one of major hotel chains in South Korea, refused to host an anniversary event marking the foundation of Japan's self-defense forces, the hotel said Friday.

The hotel chain said in a statement that it has canceled the Japanese Embassy's special event slated to be held at the Lotte Hotel Seoul on Friday, without deliberating on the reason for the cancellation.

The Japanese Embassy in Seoul has held such event every year in South Korea to celebrate the establishment of its self-defense forces.

The embassy sought to hold this year's event marking the 60th anniversary at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, but the hotel canceled the embassy's reservation last night.

The hotel reportedly turned it down amid the growing anti-Japanese sentiment among South Koreans caused by Japan's recent provocation such as the reinterpretation of its pacifist constitution and the review on the past apology for sexual enslavement of Korean women.

The Japanese cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, announced its resolution on July 1 to re-interpret its 67-year-old pacifist constitution, allowing itself to exercise the right to collective self-defense.

On June 20, the Abe cabinet unveiled the result of its re- examination on the Kono Statement. It said South Korea intervened in the wording of the apology, indicating it was the consequence of closed-door political dealings.

The Kono Statement refers to an official apology made in 1993 by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, who acknowledged that the imperialistic Japan was involved in the recruitment of more than 200,000 young women, mostly Korans, and forced them to serve in military brothels.

Following such "anachronistic" acts, fury toward the Abe cabinet rose among South Koreans, many of who are still harboring deep resentment against Japan over its refusal to acknowledge and apologize for the past brutalities during the colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.