[h=3]By YUKA HAYASHI[/h] TOKYO—Weekend visits to a controversial war shrine by top aides of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set off angry protests from South Korea, prompting the cancellation of a Tokyo trip by the country's foreign minister that had been intended to ramp up cooperation between the two American allies in response to North Korean threats.
Underscoring the continued challenge Mr. Abe faces in managing Japan's relations with its neighbors, Seoul expressed Monday "deep concern and regret" over the latest shrine visits and notified Tokyo of its decision not to send foreign minister Yun Byung-se to Japan for a two-day trip planned from Friday. It would have been the first fully-fledged ministerial meeting between the two governments under their new leaders, Mr. Abe and President Park Geun-hye, who took power in December and February, respectively.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso offering a prayer for war dead at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine Sunday; the visits by three cabinet ministers during the shrine's spring festival brought an angry reaction from South Korea.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the visit had been scheduled to find ways of working more closely together in response to increasingly bellicose threats against both countries—and the U.S.—from North Korea. The new tensions between Japan and South Korea come a week after American Secretary of State John Kerry visited both countries, in part to encourage them to set aside lingering tensions dating back to Japan's occupation of Korea through the end of World War II, and to strengthen their alliance against current regional threats. During a Tokyo news conference, Mr. Kerry urged nations around the region to set aside "old and contentious historical differences."
Privately, American officials have been more blunt in expressing frustration with both countries for failing to create basic cooperative agreements— like a routine intelligence-sharing pact that fell apart a year ago—and have raised concerns that Mr. Abe's new nationalistic government might further complicate ties between two of America's closest Asian allies at a time of growing regional instability.
South Korea's angry reaction Monday came after three cabinet ministers from Mr. Abe's conservative government visited Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine during its annual spring festival over the weekend. Particularly upsetting to the neighbors was the visit by Taro Aso, the No.2 official in Mr. Abe's government, who serves as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
Mr. Abe himself didn't go to the shrine but sent an offering of a potted tree used in rituals.
Mr. Abe's top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, stressed Monday that the ministers were acting in their capacity as private citizens, and added that the government "should not place restrictions on these matters of the heart." Asked about the negative impact on Japan's relations with neighbors, Mr. Suga countered in a news conference: "Each country has its own position. I don't think this should be an issue that affects diplomatic relations."
Both South Korea and China have long complained about Japanese lawmaker's visits to the shrine, which honors a host of war criminals, along with millions of ordinary Japanese killed during past wars. In a statement, the South Korean government said it "strongly urges the Japanese government to immediately stop its retrograde behavior which ignores history, and to behave responsibly based on a correct understanding of history, so that Japan can restore trust from neighboring countries."
No official comment from Beijing was immediately available, but Xinhua, China's government news agency, said in an article Monday that China and South Korea have urged Japan "many times" to stop sending top officials to the shrine. Such visits, Xinhua said, have become "a major obstacle for Japan to mend its ties with neighboring China and South Korea that suffered Japan's invasion in World War II."
The latest development raises fresh concerns about the ability of the Abe government to improve relations with Japan's most important neighbors, even as the initial success of his drastic economic policies have brought him strong popularity at home. Since last summer, Japan has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with China over a group of small East China Sea islands. Its relationship with South Korea has also been chilled over the past year or so, as disagreements regarding sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels have spilled into a tussle over another set of small islands last summer.
Since taking power, Mr. Abe—known for his hawkish views on foreign policy and national security—has generally avoided friction over sensitive issues related to Japan's wartime history. Still, suspicions about his views have lingered among Japan's neighbors. The prime minister once said he regretted not having visited Yasukuni during his first term as prime minister five years ago. He prompted protests from Seoul and Beijing when he did make such a visit late last year as leader of the opposition, a few weeks before his party won national elections, making him prime minister. He has repeatedly brought up controversial causes, such as his desire for tightening of the censorship of history textbooks. In recent days, he has ramped up discussions for implementing the first revision in Japan's pacifist constitution since its enactment nearly seven decades ago.
Mr. Aso's visit to Yasukuni late Sunday came as a surprise to many in Japan. Soon after returning to Tokyo from his trip to Washington to attend an economic officials' meeting, Mr. Aso, a Catholic, stopped by the shrine and took a single bow in front of the main altar. He left without making comment.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abe has maintained a tough stance over a territorial spat with China to counter Beijing's persistent incursions into the areas around the disputed islands. Underlining the lack of progress in fixing bilateral tensions, China last week said it would not attend a trilateral summit meeting with Tokyo and Seoul planned for late May.
—Kyong-Ae Choi in Seoul and Toko Sekiguchi in Tokyo contributed to this article. Write to Yuka Hayashi at [email protected]
Underscoring the continued challenge Mr. Abe faces in managing Japan's relations with its neighbors, Seoul expressed Monday "deep concern and regret" over the latest shrine visits and notified Tokyo of its decision not to send foreign minister Yun Byung-se to Japan for a two-day trip planned from Friday. It would have been the first fully-fledged ministerial meeting between the two governments under their new leaders, Mr. Abe and President Park Geun-hye, who took power in December and February, respectively.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso offering a prayer for war dead at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine Sunday; the visits by three cabinet ministers during the shrine's spring festival brought an angry reaction from South Korea.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the visit had been scheduled to find ways of working more closely together in response to increasingly bellicose threats against both countries—and the U.S.—from North Korea. The new tensions between Japan and South Korea come a week after American Secretary of State John Kerry visited both countries, in part to encourage them to set aside lingering tensions dating back to Japan's occupation of Korea through the end of World War II, and to strengthen their alliance against current regional threats. During a Tokyo news conference, Mr. Kerry urged nations around the region to set aside "old and contentious historical differences."
Privately, American officials have been more blunt in expressing frustration with both countries for failing to create basic cooperative agreements— like a routine intelligence-sharing pact that fell apart a year ago—and have raised concerns that Mr. Abe's new nationalistic government might further complicate ties between two of America's closest Asian allies at a time of growing regional instability.
South Korea's angry reaction Monday came after three cabinet ministers from Mr. Abe's conservative government visited Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine during its annual spring festival over the weekend. Particularly upsetting to the neighbors was the visit by Taro Aso, the No.2 official in Mr. Abe's government, who serves as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
Mr. Abe himself didn't go to the shrine but sent an offering of a potted tree used in rituals.
Mr. Abe's top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, stressed Monday that the ministers were acting in their capacity as private citizens, and added that the government "should not place restrictions on these matters of the heart." Asked about the negative impact on Japan's relations with neighbors, Mr. Suga countered in a news conference: "Each country has its own position. I don't think this should be an issue that affects diplomatic relations."
Both South Korea and China have long complained about Japanese lawmaker's visits to the shrine, which honors a host of war criminals, along with millions of ordinary Japanese killed during past wars. In a statement, the South Korean government said it "strongly urges the Japanese government to immediately stop its retrograde behavior which ignores history, and to behave responsibly based on a correct understanding of history, so that Japan can restore trust from neighboring countries."
No official comment from Beijing was immediately available, but Xinhua, China's government news agency, said in an article Monday that China and South Korea have urged Japan "many times" to stop sending top officials to the shrine. Such visits, Xinhua said, have become "a major obstacle for Japan to mend its ties with neighboring China and South Korea that suffered Japan's invasion in World War II."
The latest development raises fresh concerns about the ability of the Abe government to improve relations with Japan's most important neighbors, even as the initial success of his drastic economic policies have brought him strong popularity at home. Since last summer, Japan has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with China over a group of small East China Sea islands. Its relationship with South Korea has also been chilled over the past year or so, as disagreements regarding sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels have spilled into a tussle over another set of small islands last summer.
Since taking power, Mr. Abe—known for his hawkish views on foreign policy and national security—has generally avoided friction over sensitive issues related to Japan's wartime history. Still, suspicions about his views have lingered among Japan's neighbors. The prime minister once said he regretted not having visited Yasukuni during his first term as prime minister five years ago. He prompted protests from Seoul and Beijing when he did make such a visit late last year as leader of the opposition, a few weeks before his party won national elections, making him prime minister. He has repeatedly brought up controversial causes, such as his desire for tightening of the censorship of history textbooks. In recent days, he has ramped up discussions for implementing the first revision in Japan's pacifist constitution since its enactment nearly seven decades ago.
Mr. Aso's visit to Yasukuni late Sunday came as a surprise to many in Japan. Soon after returning to Tokyo from his trip to Washington to attend an economic officials' meeting, Mr. Aso, a Catholic, stopped by the shrine and took a single bow in front of the main altar. He left without making comment.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abe has maintained a tough stance over a territorial spat with China to counter Beijing's persistent incursions into the areas around the disputed islands. Underlining the lack of progress in fixing bilateral tensions, China last week said it would not attend a trilateral summit meeting with Tokyo and Seoul planned for late May.
—Kyong-Ae Choi in Seoul and Toko Sekiguchi in Tokyo contributed to this article. Write to Yuka Hayashi at [email protected]