South Korea on Tuesday expressed its worry about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ritual offering to the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine on the occasion of Japan’s annual autumn festival.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told a press briefing that a responsible Japanese politician sent an offering once again to the Yasukuni Shrine beautifying the history of an aggressive war.
Noh said the South Korean government expresses its concern about the action.
The war shrine honors 14 Class-A convicted war criminals among 2.5 million Japanese war dead during World War II and is seen as a symbol of the militarist Japan.
Visits and ritual offerings made by proxy to the infamous shrine by Japanese leaders and officials have consistently sparked strong criticism and hurt the feelings of China and South Korea and other countries brutalized by Japan during the Pacific War.
Noh urged the Japanese government to show its humble introspection and self-reflection with sincere actions based on a right perception of history.
Abe last visited the controversial shrine in December 2013, when his visit enraged China and South Korea in addition to strong backlash from the United States, which said it was disappointed with Abe’s decision.
