Dozens of Japanese lawmakers visit war-linked shrine

TOKYO (AA) – Around 80 Japanese lawmakers have paid a visit to a war-linked shrine, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the site.

The offering and Tuesday’s visit prompted South Korea to express “deep concern” over the moves in a statement saying Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine “beautifies Japan's past invasion”.

"[We] cannot but feel deeply concerned and disappointed," the foreign ministry said in a statement quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

It called on Japanese politicians to “win the trust of its neighboring countries and move forward by showing its humble soul-searching and sincere self-reflection based on an accurate recognition of history”.

According to Japanese news agency Kyodo, Abe’s "masakaki" tree offering Monday was made under the name of the prime minister, who is unlikely to visit the Shinto shrine for its four-day annual autumn festival ahead of summit talks with South Korea and China expected later this year.

The Yasukuni Shrine has been a source of tension between Japan and its neighbors, particularly China and South Korea, as it honors 14 war criminals convicted by the Allies in the trials that followed the war.

Abe had visited Yasukuni in December 2013, in a move also criticized by the United States as it wants Tokyo and Seoul to set aside their historical grievances in order to cooperate more fully in the defense of Northeast Asia.

Concerns have also been expressed in neighboring countries as Abe has been working toward expanding the role of Japan’s self-defense forces after his cabinet decided in 2014 to re-interpret the country’s pacifist post-World War II constitution.

Ritual offerings were also made Monday by Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, House of Representatives Speaker Tadamori Oshima and House of Councillors President Chuichi Date.