North Korea: Japan's Yasukuni Shrine Visits Promote Revengeism... Revival of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Rodong Sinmun "Yasukuni, Symbol of Bloody Aggression History"

On the 18th, North Korea urged the Japanese government to "immediately stop acts that promote revanchism" after senior Japanese officials offered tributes or paid respects at Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, which is both Liberation Day and the day of Japan's defeat, where Class-A Pacific War criminals are enshrined.

The Workers' Party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, criticized in a personal byline article published on page 6 that day, stating, "Offering tributes or paying respects at Yasukuni Shrine, which symbolizes Japan's bloody history of invasion, is a very dangerous act that openly glorifies the invasion history and promotes revanchism."

The newspaper also raised its voice against Japanese politicians, saying, "Turning war criminals into heroes and patriots is an attempt to revive the era when Imperial Japan boasted of the 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' and trampled Asia like stepping on soybeans."

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara is leaving after paying a visit to Yasukuni Shrine on the 15th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered tributes at Yasukuni Shrine on the 15th. Additionally, current cabinet members including Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Yoshitaka Shindo, and Minister in charge of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi visited Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects.

Yasukuni Shrine commemorates the spirits of approximately 2,466,000 people who died in civil wars around the Meiji Restoration and wars fought by Imperial Japan. It also enshrines 14 Class-A Pacific War criminals, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who were executed following the Far East International Military Tribunal (Tokyo Trials).