German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder hinted on Wednesday Japan needs to deal with it World War II history in a "self-critical" manner to win friends.

Asked by a reporter at a joint news conference with visiting South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun what Asia could learn from Germany in terms of dealing with history, Schroeder referred to Germany's own experience.

"With a sensitive and self-critical manner of dealing with your own history you will not lose friends but rather win friends," he said.

"Every country must find its own way to deal with the good sides as well as the darker sides of its history," said Schroeder.

Germany, which has made sincere and persistent efforts to recognize wartime history and apologize since 1945, has won trust from the countries and people that suffered from Nazi crimes during World War II.

Earlier this week, Schroeder said remembrance of the Nazi crimes remains a moral obligation for Germany when participating in the commemoration of a Nazi concentration camp's liberation in Weimar.

The attitude of the Japanese government in dealing with its past has been criticized by Asian countries which suffered from Japanese militarism during World War II.

Earlier this month, the Japanese Education Ministry defied protests from other Asian countries and gave the green light to the revised middle school history textbook which blatantly distorted history and glorified Japan's invasion of its neighboring countries more than half a century ago.

In an interview with a German newspaper last week, President Roh criticized Japan's attitude towards history, saying that Japan 's whitewash of its wartime history runs against universal human values.