"The better our relations with the United States, the easier it will be for us to build good relations with China, South Korea, Asian and other countries in the world," Koizumi said. "That's my basic belief."
In keeping with that belief, Japan lobbied unsuccessfully to have the US included in the first East Asian Summit, a meeting of regional nations scheduled to take place next month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while South Korea kept a studied silence.
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