The government strongly criticized Japanese politicians' visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's offering of ritual money.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a Spokesperson's commentary on the 15th, saying, "The government cannot help but lament the anachronistic acts that forget history, such as responsible, senior Japanese figures once again dedicating offerings or repeating a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's past wars of aggression and enshrines war criminals."
It added, "Our government strongly urges Japan's responsible leaders to face up to history and demonstrate humble introspection and genuine remorse for past history through actions, and emphasizes that this is an important foundation for building a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship based on mutual trust."
On this day, which is both Korea's Liberation Day and Japan's defeat day, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi personally paid for and dedicated ritual money to the Yasukuni Shrine. It was in her capacity as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, not as prime minister.
Four incumbent ministers—Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Okinawa and Northern Territories Minister Hitoshi Gikawada, Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda, and Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Minoru Kiuchi—paid a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.
It is the first time in two years, since then-Defense Minister Minoru Gihara in 2024, that a sitting defense minister has visited the Yasukuni Shrine on Japan's defeat day.
In addition, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki, General Council Chair Haruko Arimura, and Election Strategy Committee Chair Yasutoshi Nishimura made a group visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on the morning of the same day, following Defense Minister Koizumi.
It is considered unusual for core Liberal Democratic Party executives to visit Yasukuni as a group on the defeat day.
Members of the nonpartisan parliamentary group "Lawmakers' group to visit the Yasukuni Shrine together" also visited the Yasukuni Shrine on the morning of the same day.
Kamiya Sohei, leader of the right-wing party Sanseitō, and Hyakuta Naoki, leader of the Japan Conservative Party, also visited the Yasukuni Shrine.
The Yasukuni Shrine is a facility that commemorates about 2,466,000 people who died in civil wars around the time of the Meiji Restoration and in numerous wars waged by imperial Japan; A-class war criminals from the Pacific War, including former Prime Minister Tojo Hideki, who were executed under the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trial), are also enshrined there, making it regarded as a symbol of Japanese militarism.