SEOUL : Roh Going to Japan

In only the second such trip by a South Korean leader, President Roh Tae Woo, who is on shaky political ground at home, begins a three-day visit to Japan on Thursday.

South Koreans are demanding that Japan offer a substantial apology for its repressive 1910-45 rule of Korea and grant Korean residents of Japan a status virtually equal to that of Japanese. Tokyo is expected to go only part way in meeting either demand.

Roh, who has canceled visits to the United States, Canada and Mexico because of domestic political and economic problems, wants this trip to symbolize the beginning of a forward-looking era of good-neighbor relations. But South Korean analysts say if Japan fails to own up to its past, he will not achieve his goal.