1. The government of the Republic of Korea cannot but deplore that, in defiance of the concern of Japan’s neighboring countries and the international community, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe once again made an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine and Cabinet members repeatedly paid their tributes at the shrine, which glorifies Japan’s past colonization and war of aggression and enshrines war criminals.

2. Prime Minister Abe’s offering to the shrine as well as the visits thereto by Cabinet members run directly counter to Prime Minister Abe’s pledge to inherit the historical perspective of former Japanese Cabinets, such as in the Murayama Statement. Furthermore, they are anachronistic moves that undermine the stability in the region as well as the good-neighborly relations among countries in Asia.

3. In the midst of the ongoing international denunciation of Prime Minister Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine late last year, Japanese political leaders should keep in mind that their continued ahistorical actions demonstrate to the entire world that the so-called “proactive contribution to peace” policy of the Japanese government is a hollow slogan. 


                     Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation