South Korea's ruling and opposition parties on Saturday jointly condemned Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro and other cabinet ministers, as well as senior officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, for visiting Yasukuni Shrine on Liberation Day — which also marks the anniversary of Japan's World War II defeat.
Jeon Su-mi, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, said in a written briefing that the Takaichi cabinet and LDP leadership's visit to Yasukuni Shrine was "an anachronistic provocation at a solemn moment when the lessons of history demand deep reflection."
Jeon added that the defense minister, who should be a guardian of peace, and the minister in charge of children's policy, who should be nurturing future generations, had bowed before war criminals — an act she called "a self-contradiction" rooted in a distorted, self-centered nationalism that tramples on the universal values of human rights and peace.
She went on to warn the Takaichi cabinet to "immediately halt this historical regression of visiting Yasukuni Shrine," and urged Japan to "break free from the old specter of imperialism and demonstrate genuine apology to the victims through action."
Rep. Kim Dae-sik, the opposition floor leader on the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and a recognized expert on Japan, also expressed regret on Facebook. Kim noted that Defense Minister Koizumi had visited Seoul National Cemetery on June 27 and pledged to deepen South Korea-Japan defense cooperation. "Today's visit, less than two months later, undermines the trust the two countries have painstakingly built," he said.
Kim also said Japan's responsible leaders "must confront the history of aggression and demonstrate genuine remorse through action, not words," and called on the South Korean government to "deliver a clear and firm position to the Japanese side."
Defense Minister Koizumi and one other sitting cabinet minister visited Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of Japan's defeat for the seventh consecutive year. Senior LDP officials also made an unusually coordinated group visit. Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae offered a ritual monetary donation to the shrine in her capacity as LDP party leader.
Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of Japanese militarism. Because it enshrines Class-A war criminals from World War II alongside other war dead, South Korea, China and other countries have long criticized visits to the shrine as evidence that Japan has not come to terms with its past.
lucky@heraldcorp.com
