The government has criticized a visit by the Japanese defense minister to the controversial Yasukuni shrine to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two, calling the visit “anachronistic.”

A foreign ministry official in Seoul said on Thursday that the government cannot help but deplore the anachronistic act of the Yasukuni visit by Japanese defense minister Kihara Minoru, who is in charge of Japan’s defense and security. 

The official said that the visit can never be understood by Japan’s neighboring countries who have a painful history of being invaded by a foreign country.

Kim Sang-hoon, director general for Asian and Pacific affairs, called in Taisuke Mibae, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to protest the visit. 

The defense minister, as well as other Cabinet ministers and lawmakers visited the war shrine in person to mark the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sending a ritual offering.  

In a statement on Thursday, Seoul’s foreign ministry said that the South Korean government expressed deep disappointment and regret over the repeated visits and ritual offerings by responsible leaders in Tokyo to the shrine, which honors convicted war criminals and glorifies the past war of aggression.