South Korea expresses regret after Takaichi sends offering to Yasukuni Shrine
Seoul urged Japanese leaders to show remorse through action after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a ritual offering at the start of the Tokyo shrine’s autumn festival.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on October 17, 2026, prompting South Korea’s government to express regret and urge Japanese leaders to confront their country’s wartime past, Yonhap News Agency reported. The offering marked the start of the shrine’s three-day autumn festival.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said it ‘once again expresses deep disappointment and regret’ that Japanese leaders have repeatedly sent offerings to or visited the shrine, according to Yonhap. Seoul’s objection concerns the shrine’s commemoration of convicted war criminals alongside other Japanese war dead.
What Takaichi sent to Yasukuni Shrine
Takaichi sent a masakaki offering of evergreen twigs in her capacity as prime minister, Kyodo News reported in an article carried by the South China Morning Post. Kyodo said the offering followed a practice of her predecessors at the shrine’s twice-yearly festival.
Takaichi had routinely visited the Shinto shrine before becoming prime minister but has refrained from doing so since taking office in October 2025, Kyodo reported. A source close to her said she was unlikely to visit during this festival. That was an expectation about the remainder of the event, rather than a confirmed decision by Takaichi.
Economic and fiscal policy minister Minoru Kiuchi visited the shrine on October 17, according to Kyodo’s report carried by The Straits Times. The report said Kiuchi also made an offering, as did House of Representatives Speaker Eisuke Mori and Senate President Masakazu Sekiguchi.
Why the shrine draws objections from South Korea
Yasukuni honours about 2.46 million Japanese war dead, including 14 Class A war criminals convicted by an international tribunal after World War II, Yonhap reported. Kyodo said the shrine has long been a source of diplomatic friction with South Korea and China, whose objections are tied to Japan’s wartime conduct.
Japan colonised the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945 and invaded large parts of China before World War II, according to Kyodo. The shrine enshrined the 14 Class A war criminals in 1978; they included wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo, who was executed in 1948 for crimes against peace.
In the statement reported by Yonhap, South Korea’s foreign ministry called on Japanese leaders to ‘face history squarely’ and demonstrate reflection and remorse through action. It said those steps were an important foundation for a relationship between the two countries based on trust.
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Sources and context
- Gov't expresses regret over Takaichi's offering to controversial war shrineYonhap News Agency
- Japan’s Takaichi sends offering to controversial Yasukuni war shrineKyodo News, carried by South China Morning Post
- Japan PM Takaichi sends offering to war-linked Yasukuni shrine for autumn riteKyodo News, syndicated by The Straits Times
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.