Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a controversial war shrine angered South Korea who called it "anachronistic behavior," Agence France-Presse reported.
"We can't help deploring and expressing anger at the prime minister's visit to the Yasukuni shrine... despite concerns and warnings by neighboring countries," Culture Minister Yoo Jin-Ryong told reporters. "The visit... is anachronistic behavior that fundamentally damages not only relations between the South and Japan but also stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia."
Abe visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Thursday, seen by many as a symbol of Japan's World War II militarism.
The shrine, which commemorates around 2.5 million of the Japanese's dead, including several high-level war criminals, raised comments hours after Abe made his first visit since taking office last December, AFP reported.
According to AFP, South Korea and China see it as a symbol of Japan's failure to repent its 20th century warmongering. The shrine honored those who inflicted "indescribable" pain and suffering on Koreans during Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula, said Yoo.
"Japan, if it genuinely seeks to make an active contribution to world peace, first needs to build trust with neighboring countries... through thorough self-reflection and apology... instead of denying its past and glorifying past aggression," he said.
The past year has seen cold bilateral relations, partly due to a dispute over Seoul-controlled islets also claimed by Tokyo. A visit from a group of Japanese ministers and politicians to Yasukuni in August strained further relations.
According to AFP, Seoul and Beijing have refused to hold formal bilateral summits with Abe, whom they see as hawkish on the issues of territory and history.
Joining China and South Korea, the U.S. expressed disappointment on Thursday about Abe's visit to the shrine as well.
"Japan is a valued ally and friend. Nevertheless, the United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors," the U.S. embassy in Japan said in a statement.
