North Korea warned Monday that visits by Japanese politicians to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine were a sign that Japan was aiming to invade Asia again.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the pilgrimages to Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan's war dead -- including World War II leaders -- indicated that Japan was returning to war-time militarism.
"The visit to the shrine, where arch war criminals, who launched wars of aggression in the past, are entombed, cannot but be a criminal move to revive militarism," KCNA said.
It also said Japanese "reactionaries" were trying to "realise their wild ambition for the reinvasion of Asia at any cost by calling back the departed souls of militarists, oblivious of a lesson taught by history".
Four Japanese cabinet ministers and more than 50 members of parliament visited the shrine on Friday, the 58th anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II.
The shrine is widely seen as a symbol of Japan's former militarism, particularly since 1978 when it enshrined 14 convicted top war criminals, including wartime prime minister General Hideki Tojo.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who stayed away from Yasukuni on Friday, made his third trip since becoming premier to the shrine in a surprise visit in January, drawing harsh criticism from South and North Korea.
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