(VOVworld) – The Republic of Korea and China on Tuesday criticized 150 Japanese lawmakers visiting Yasukuni shrine the same day.

A group of lawmakers are led by a Shinto priest as they visit Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo April 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

In a press briefing, Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesman Cho Tai-young called their act “deplorable” because they all know the shrine is a place that enshrined crimes that caused a war and destroyed peace. Cho added that it is such an empty gesture to talk about the future with neighbors who are still paying respects to such a place. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang, while reiterating China’s protest against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sending an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine on Monday, condemned the visit by Japanese lawmakers.

Yasukuni shrine honors Japan's war dead including 14 Class-A convicted criminals in the 2^nd World War.