South Korea reiterated a call Tuesday for Japanese leaders to behave in a way not to hamper efforts to improve bilateral ties.
It condemned a group of dozens of Japan's lawmakers for paying tribute at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo earlier in the day on the occasion of its autumn festival.
Seoul and Beijing regard the shrine as a symbol of Tokyo's militaristic past. It honors millions of Japanese war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals.
Paying homage there is "not different from glorifying Japan's forcible colonization and war of aggression," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Such an act hinders South Korea's efforts to move its relations with Japan forward through the resumption of a trilateral summit also involving China, he added.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent an offering to the shrine over the weekend, followed by visits by two Cabinet members.
Abe didn't visit the shrine, keeping the chances high of the three-way summit among the regional powers being held in the coming weeks.
It is widely expected to open in Seoul at the end of October or the beginning of November. (Yonhap)