Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, front-runner to become Japan's next prime minister, made a secret visit earlier this year to a Tokyo war shrine seen by China, South Korea and other Asian nations as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, media reports said on Friday.

Abe neither confirmed nor denied the reported visit, which would likely appeal to his conservative domestic backers but risks further chilling ties between Japan and its Asian neighbours, where bitter memories of Japan's wartime aggression still run deep. "It is disappointing and regrettable that the sitting chief cabinet secretary has visited Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Class-A war criminals are honoured," a South Korean foreign ministry official said in Seoul.

"We stress that Japanese leaders must have a correct view of history and good sense if they seek friendly relations in Asia."

Abe has backed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Abe paid his visit last August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

The media reports said he had gone again on April 15, after he was appointed chief cabinet secretary last October.

Abe has declined, however, to say whether he would visit the shrine if he succeeds Koizumi when he steps down in September.

Tokyo's ties with Beijing and Seoul have chilled since Koizumi took office in 2001 and began visiting the shrine, where Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an allied tribunal are honoured along with the country's 2.5 million war dead.

Opinion polls have shown that a majority of Japanese voters oppose visits to the shrine by the nation's top leaders.

Japanese business leaders have urged Koizumi to halt his visits, and many want the next prime minister to refrain as well.

"I'm against anyone who would visit the shrine as prime minister," said Hisashi Owada, 25, who works in the financial sector, as he took a break in a small park in Tokyo.

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, who was the first to announce he would run to succeed Koizumi, has said he will not visit Yasukuni if he becomes prime minister.

A major Buddhist organization, the Shinshu Kyodan Rengo, issued a statement to Koizumi's office on Friday urging him to stop further visits. The Japan Buddhist Federation issued a similar statement.

Source: China Daily