Prime Minister Ishiba Receives Tributes to Yasukuni shrine Government "deeply disappointed and regretful"

[Anchor]
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has made offerings to Yasukuni shrine for the first time since his inauguration.

It was a tribute instead of visiting, but the fact that it was a place where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War joined together raises concerns from neighboring countries.

I'm connecting to the local area in Japan. Correspondent Kim Se-ho!

Prime Minister Ishiba was interested in his first autumn high priest move since taking office, but instead of paying tribute to Yasukuni shrine, he made offerings.

[Reporter]
Yes. Prime Minister Ishiba consecrated a tribute called Masakaki in the name of Shigeru Ishiba, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, to Yasukuni shrine for the high priest in the fall.

It is the first time Prime Minister Ishiba has made an offering to Yasukuni shrine since his inauguration.

Ishiba is known as a politician who has not visited Yasukuni shrine.

I didn't even send a tribute before I took office.

It seems that he was conscious of the right-wing votes ahead of the House of Representatives general election.Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
has also paid tribute instead of visiting the shrine.

The last time a sitting Japanese prime minister visited the Yasukuni Shrine was in 2013 when then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the shrine.

Meanwhile, Senator Hidehisa Otsuji and Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Takamaro Fukoka also sent tributes to Yasukuni shrine.

The non-partisan coalition of lawmakers, which has visited the Yasukuni Shrine every year, has postponed its collective visits due to campaigning for the House of Representatives.

However, far-right Senator Masahisa Sato paid tribute as a representative.

In a statement in the name of a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the Korean government glorified the war of aggression in the past and joined the war criminals in the Yasukuni shrine of

Japanese leaders say they are deeply disappointed and regretful that they have repeatedly offered tributes or paid tribute again.

He then urged the responsible leaders of Japan's new cabinet to face history and show humbling reflection and genuine reflection on past history in action.

[Anchor]
In the midst of this, Prime Minister Ishiba met with the families of abductees for the first time since taking office. You expressed your willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right?

[Reporter]
Prime Minister Ishiba meets with family of Japanese victims kidnapped by North Korea for the first time,

It is very important for the leaders of North Korea and Japan to make a broad judgment and to speak frankly about each other's thoughts.

He also promised that the government would do its best to solve the abductees problem, saying it is a race against time.

Prime Minister Ishiba made a pledge to establish a mutual liaison office between the two countries during last month's election for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

However, the family group of victims of the abduction clarified its opposition, saying it would only waste time.

Former Prime Minister Kishida also tried to hold a summit with Kim Jong-un as a solution to the issue of victims of the abduction, but high-level contacts for this did not produce results.

I'm Kim Se-ho of YTN in Tokyo.