North Korea on Monday condemned visits by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine and the sending of offerings there, saying the move reflected a "new militaristic obsession" in Japan.
North Korea's state news agency KCNA said the visits, which took place on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's 1945 surrender, reflected what it called the growing military ambitions of Japanese politicians.
Pyongyang argued that the shrine glorifies Japan’s past wars of aggression and honors war criminals convicted by international courts, adding that this year’s visits take on even more serious significance because they coincide with Japanese military movements.
The agency cited Japan's deployment of weapons capable of carrying out preemptive strikes, amendments to defense industry laws, and what it described as attempts to revise legislation related to nuclear weapons.
The agency also criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, saying that her remote performance of a religious ritual at the shrine reveals, in its words, a tendency to revive Japanese expansionism and enhance influence abroad.
Pyongyang warned that what it called Japan's "new military hysteria" could lead to devastating consequences, in the latest North Korean criticism of Tokyo over what it sees as an acceleration in Japan's military buildup and a revival of its militaristic past.
The Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, established in 1869 to honor the spirits of approximately 2.46 million people killed in the wars fought by the Japanese Empire.
The shrine is a source of international controversy because it includes the names of 14 Japanese leaders convicted of war crimes, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. China and South Korea view visits by Japanese officials to the shrine as glorifying Japan's militaristic and expansionist past.
The complex includes the Yoshukan War Museum, which has been criticized for portraying Japan’s past wars as defensive and liberating, while downplaying the abuses committed by imperial forces in Asia.
