Ozawa seeks match against S. Korean 'baduk' master: source

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- Ichiro Ozawa, an influential Japanese politician, is scheduled to visit South Korea later this week and hold a special event: playing a match of the strategy board game "baduk" against South Korean master Cho Hun-hyun, diplomatic sources here said Monday.

Ozawa, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, plans to make a
three-day trip to South Korea from Friday shortly after his trip to China.
The politician is said to be a die-hard fan of the game, called "go" in Japan,
and has asked to play against Cho, according to the sources.
"The baduk communities of the two nations are pushing for the event," a foreign
ministry source said. "Chances are high that it will happen. The venue and exact
time of the game has yet to be decided."
Ozawa is expected to pay a courtesy call on South Korean President Lee Myung-bak
and meet Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan to discuss Seoul-Tokyo relations and the
issue of suffrage for ethnic Koreans in Japan.
He is also set to deliver a speech at Kookmin University in Seoul on Saturday,
the source said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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