KOR
▲ Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends the national memorial service for war dead held on South Korea's Liberation Day and Japan's war-defeat day.
The South Korean government criticized Japanese political figures today (the 15th) for making ritual offerings and visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.
In a spokesperson's commentary released today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "The government cannot hide its deep regret that responsible and leading figures in Japan have once again engaged in anachronistic acts, forgetting history, by making ritual offerings to or visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's past aggressive wars and enshrines war criminals."
The ministry added, "The government strongly urges responsible leaders in Japan to face history squarely and demonstrate humble introspection and genuine remorse for past history through action, emphasizing that this is an important foundation for building future-oriented South Korea-Japan relations based on mutual trust."
Both the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Japanese government officials respectively to lodge strong protests.
Kim Hak-jo, Director-General for International Policy at the Ministry of National Defense, summoned Takeshi Nagayoshi, Japan's defense attaché to South Korea, to the ministry building today to strongly protest Defense Minister Koizumi's push to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, according to the ministry.
Director-General Kim expressed deep regret, stating that the defense minister's insistence on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine—which glorifies past colonial plunder and aggressive wars while enshrining war criminals—is deplorable.
He also expressed serious concern, noting that this directly runs counter to the efforts of both South Korea and Japan to build trust-based, future-oriented relations while facing history squarely.
Lee Min-kyung, Director-General for Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also summoned Kazuo Chujo, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Japanese Embassy in South Korea, to the ministry today to lodge a stern protest and strong regret over the repeated offerings and visits to the Yasukuni Shrine by responsible leading figures in Japan.
On this day, which marks South Korea's Liberation Day and Japan's war-defeat day, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi paid for and offered ritual donations to the Yasukuni Shrine out of her own pocket.
She did so in her capacity as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party rather than as prime minister.
Four incumbent cabinet ministers—Defense Minister Koizumi, Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Hitoshi Kikawaida, Minister for Economic Security Kimi Onoda, and Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Minoru Kiuchi—visited the Yasukuni Shrine.
This marks the first time in two years since then-Defense Minister Minoru Kihara in 2024 that an incumbent defense minister has visited the Yasukuni Shrine on Japan's war-defeat day.
The South Korean government has viewed an incumbent defense chief—who is responsible for national defense—visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Class-A war criminals, with greater severity than other cabinet ministers.
In addition, members of the bipartisan Japanese parliamentary group "Members of Parliament who Visit Yasukuni Shrine Together" and the Liberal Democratic Party's "Conservative Unity Association" also visited the Yasukuni Shrine this morning.
Sohei Kamiya, leader of the right-wing Sanseito party, and Naoki Hyakuta, leader of the Conservative Party of Japan, also visited the Yasukuni Shrine.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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