Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed willingness Tuesday to visit Iwojima for a government war memorial service June 19.

"I have been hoping to go there as it is the site of the bloodiest combat and many people died," Koizumi told reporters at his office.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has asked Koizumi to attend the ceremony for the victims of the Battle of Iwojima on the occasion their memorial is renovated on the island, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.

More than 20,000 Japanese and 7,000 U.S. soldiers died in the battle that continued for nearly one month from February to March of 1945 on the Pacific island some 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo.

Source: Agencies