BERLIN, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korean President Roh Moo Hyunon Friday denounced Japan for justifying its history of aggression, saying that it "runs counter to the value of the whole human beings."

    The essential problem is "Japanese people want to wash off and justify the war of aggression in the past," Roh told the German Newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung which was released on Friday.

    Once the new generations of the Japanese are educated with the glorifying version of their aggression history, there will be no hope for peace in the future, Roh warned.

    "It is a great misfortune for the entire world that we must live together with people who glorify their past of aggression," said Roh, who is to visit Germany on Sunday.

    "It is right that Japan has made apologies several times, but recent events have virtually nullified those apologies," Roh said.     

    Anti-Japanese sentiment has been rising in South Korea since March when Japan renewed its claim for ownership of Tokto, a South Korean-controlled island in the Sea of Japan.

    Furthermore, the Japanese Education Ministry on Tuesday approved a new version of middle school history textbook, which glosses over Japan's wrongdoing in the past and justifies Japan's war of aggression. Enditem