S.Korea urges Japan to face up to history after Abe's offerings to Yasukuni Shrine

SEOUL - South Korea on Thursday urged Japan to squarely face up history in a right way after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ritual offerings to the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuk told a press briefing that Prime Minister Abe dedicated a "masakaki"tree to the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's past war of aggression and colonization and enshrines war criminals, expressing deep concerns about the dedication.

Cho called for Japan to squarely face up to history and show sincere actions to repent its past atrocities, saying that it will be an effort that should be made by Japan to open new future-oriented relations between the two nations.

Abe and other senior government personnel made offerings to the notorious shrine to celebrate the country's spring festival. Abe's special advisor, Seiichi Eto, visited the contentious war-linked shrine in person.

Abe opted to abstain from visiting the ill-famed shrine in person, but he has made the ritual offering in a private way, drawing the ire of Japan's neighbors especially China and South Korea.

The Korean Peninsula was colonized by Japan between 1910 and 1945. China also suffered at the hands of Japan's brutal militarism before and during World War II.