Tokyo: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at a shrine honoring Japan's war dead in an unexpected visit Thursday that drew sharp rebukes from China and South Korea, who warned that the move celebrates his country's militaristic past and could further sour relations.
On his first anniversary of taking office, Abe spent about 15 minutes at the Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo. “I prayed to pay respect for the war dead who sacrificed their precious lives and hoped that they rest in peace,” he told waiting reporters afterward.
Japanese politicians' visits to Yasukuni have long caused friction with China and both Koreas, because the 2.5 million war dead enshrined there include 14 class A war criminals from World War II—national leaders who were either executed or died in prison or during their trials.
Japan colonized Korea and occupied parts of China, often brutally, before and during World War II.
It was the first visit to the Shinto-style war shrine by a sitting Japanese prime minister since Junichiro Koizumi went in 2006 to mark the end of World War II. Abe previously visited Yasukuni while out of office.
