Seoul said a planned visit by Yun Byung-se later this week had been called off as a result. The shrine commemorates Japan’s war dead, including war criminals. Many of the country‘s neighbors view it as a reminder of Japan’s military past. Visits to the shrine, in central Tokyo, by high-profile Japanese leaders anger China and the two Koreas.
In a statement, the South Korean foreign ministry criticized the visit. The government “expresses deep regrets and concerns” over both the visits and Minister Abe‘s ritual offering to “the shrine that glorifies Japan’s past aggressive wars”, the statement said.
As well as Aso, cabinet minister Keiji Furuya visited the shrine on Sunday, as did Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, who is not part of the cabinet. Minister Abe offered a “masakaki” decorated wooden stick, inscribed with his name and title, Kyodo News agency said. The officials visited the shrine “as private individuals”, he said, adding that the issue should not “impact diplomacy”.
Ties between the two neighbors have been chilly since last year, when a long-standing territorial row over islands both claim flared again. The islands are called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
The visit to Japan would have been the first by the South Korean foreign minister since the new administration of Park Geun-hye took power earlier this year.
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