Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni shrine, viewed by some of Japan's Asian neighbors as a symbol of the country's past militarism, on the occasion of its spring festival, according to Kyodo News.

Kishida sent the ceremonial tree, called "masakaki," on the first day of the three-day ceremony at the Shinto religious facility in central Tokyo.

Economic revitalization minister Yoshitaka Shindo paid a visit to the shrine on Sunday morning. "I paid my respects to the spirits of those who put their heart and soul into working for the country," he told reporters.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed "deep disappointment and regret" over Kishida's offering and the visit by a minister, saying the shrine "glorifies Japan's past wars of aggression and enshrines war criminals."

In a statement, the ministry urged Japan's leaders to "squarely face history and show their humble reflection and genuine repentance through their actions."

Known as a dovish moderate within his conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida is likely to once again refrain from an in-person visit, as he has done since taking power in October 2021, people close to him said.

Yasukuni has often been at the center of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea as Japan's wartime leaders, convicted as war criminals by a post-World War II international tribunal, are among the more than 2.4 million war dead honored at the shrine.