Seoul urges Tokyo to scrap shrine visits

South Korea on Tuesday strongly urged two Japanese cabinet ministers to scrap a planned visit to a Tokyo shrine that honours the country's war dead, including war criminals. The foreign ministry's comment came amid an escalating territorial dispute with Tokyo over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea). "The (Seoul) government holds strongly to a position that Japanese authorities including cabinet ministers must not pay respects at the Yasukuni Shrine," said ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young. "We again strongly urge the Japanese persons concerned not to commit such acts." The two ministers have said they plan to visit the controversial war shrine Wednesday, the anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender. South Korea marks the date as Liberation Day, the anniversary of the end of Japan's harsh colonial rule over Korea from 1910-45. The proposed visits to the shrine -- often seen as a symbol of Japan's past aggression -- would be the first by ministers from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan since it came to power in 2009. They would contravene the wishes of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda who, like his two predecessors, has asked his cabinet to stay away. Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have sharply worsened since the South's President Lee Myung-Bak last Friday visited the Seoul-controlled disputed islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan. Noda called the visit -- the first by a South Korean president -- "extremely deplorable". Lee said it was intended to press Tokyo to settle grievances left over from its colonial rule. On Tuesday Lee said Japan's Emperor Akihito would have to sincerely apologise for past excesses should he wish to visit South Korea. "If (Japan's emperor) wishes to visit South Korea, I wish he would visit and sincerely apologise for those who passed away while fighting for independence," the South Korean leader said during a meeting with teachers. "If he is going to visit with a term such as 'regret', there would be no need for him to come," Lee said, according to a report on the presidential website. It was unclear if there had been any recent discussions about such a visit by the emperor.