TOKYO, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan's top government spokesperson on Wednesday underscored the need for continued private-sector exchanges between Japan and South Korea as bilateral diplomatic and trade ties continue to sink between both countries.
While declining to comment specifically on an incendiary, 10-page feature written in the latest edition of the Shukan Post weekly magazine and released here on Monday, which has been staunchly criticized for inciting hatred towards South Koreans, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that relations between the peoples of both countries should continue.
The 10-page section carried in the Shukan Post weekly magazine was titled "We don't need South Korea."
The publisher of the magazine, Shogakukan, was forced to issued an apology after the furor the feature created since being released and the waves of condemnation it has garnered.
Some of the magazine's writers have said they will no longer contribute to the magazine or work for Shogakukan again after they released the feature, which insiders claimed was intentionally and specifically aimed at inciting racial hatred towards South Koreans.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have sunk to their lowest level in recent times amid disputes over wartime labor that have spilled over into an escalating tit-for-tat trade spat.
But Suga maintained on Wednesday that despite bilateral ties being at a low point at the moment, relations and exchanges between the peoples of both countries should continue as they serve as the basis for mutual understanding in the future.
