REUTERS
April 21, 2024 at 18:45 JST
Visitors pack Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Aug. 15, 2022. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
SEOUL--South Korea on Sunday protested Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's offering to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine with "deep disappointment" and urged Japanese leaders to show repentance for the country's wartime past.
The shrine is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan's past military aggression because it includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the 2.5 million war dead honoured there.
Past offerings there by Japanese leaders have led to protests from the two countries.
Kishida and some cabinet members sent ritual offerings to the shrine on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing Japanese media.
"The government expresses deep disappointment and regret that Japanese leaders again sent offerings to or visited the Yasukuni shrine which glorifies Japan's war of aggression and enshrines war criminals," South Korea's foreign ministry said.
South Korea's urges Japanese leaders to "face history squarely and demonstrate humble reflection and sincere repentance" which would be an important foundation for improved ties between the two countries, it said in a statement.
It did not mention Kishida by name.
Japanese foreign ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The two countries have moved closer in ties after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made it a foreign policy priority to improve security cooperation with Tokyo and Washington since taking office in 2022.
Last week, the finance ministers of the two countries also joined U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for the first trilateral meeting by top financial officials.
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.