The leaders of China and South Korea offered prayers for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake during visits to the disaster zone on May 21.
The leaders of China and South Korea offered prayers for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake during visits to the disaster zone on May 21.
Premier Wen Jiabao of China and President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea both arrived in Japan at Sendai Airport, Miyagi Prefecture, which was itself badly hit in the earthquake, and made separate tours of the devastated area.
They traveled to Fukushima Prefecture later in the day, where they visited an evacuation center with Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The three leaders will hold trilateral talks in Tokyo on May 22.
Lee visited Natori in Miyagi Prefecture and talked with the city's mayor, Isoo Sasaki, at the Yuriage community hall. The South Korean leader offered flowers to the dead and a silent prayer.
"I came here to convey the sadness of every South Korean citizen. I feel particular pain in my heart when thinking about the upset felt by children," he told reporters.
He then visited Tagajo, also in Miyagi Prefecture, where rescue workers dispatched by the South Korean government worked after the earthquake.
He visited an evacuation center in the city, where he urged people to "hang in there" in Japanese.
Wen visited a fish market and other locations in the Yuriage district, where he offered flowers and prayed.
"(Seeing the damage brought by the disasters,) my heart is full of sadness. I want to express my deepest sympathy," Wen told reporters.
He promised to try to revitalize tourism from China to Japan, which has dropped significantly since the earthquake, and to ease import restrictions on Japanese products as long as their safety can be guaranteed.
He visited an elementary school that is serving as an evacuation center.
The Chinese government hopes Wen's visit will help improve relations with Japan. A high-ranking Chinese official said: "(Wen) wants to visit the areas that are facing the biggest hardships and convey his sympathy to the people there."
Similar visits have helped smooth the often fraught relations between the East Asian powers in recent years.
In May 2008, Lee visited areas hit by the earthquake in Sichuan province, western China.
"The visit contributed greatly to promoting friendship between South Korea and China," an official of the South Korean presidential palace said.
In May 2010, the Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited a cemetery in Daejeon in South Korea where the victims of the sinking of the South Korean navy ship Cheonan were buried. The gesture was well received in South Korea.
(This article was written by Atsushi Hiroshima and Kentaro Koyama.)