SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday expressed deep regret over Japanese lawmakers' visit to the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of the militaristic and colonial past of Japan.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that it expresses deep worry and regret over the responsible Japanese leading figures who visited en masse the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbolic facility beautifying the colonial plunder and the aggressive war, not long after the organization of the new Diet.
The ministry urged Japan to properly face up to the history and show humble introspection and sincere repent over the past atrocities "with action".
A group of about 100 Japanese lawmakers, led by Hidehisa Otsuji of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, paid a visit to the shrine earlier in the day, marking the first such visit in over two years, according to Japanese media.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in early October, sent a ritual offering to the controversial shrine in the month to celebrate its autumn festival.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors 14 Class-A convicted war criminals among 2.5 million Japanese war dead from World War II.
Visits and ritual offerings made by Japanese officials to the infamous shrine have consistently sparked criticism and hurt the feelings of South Korea and other countries brutalized by Japan during the war.
The Korean Peninsula was colonized by the Imperial Japan from 1910 to 1945. Enditem