Seoul, Aug 15 (TIWN) South Korea on Monday voiced deep regret over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ritual offering to a controversial war shrine on a key anniversary, just hours after President Yoon Suk-yeol called for improvement of frayed ties.

Kishida sent the offering to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo earlier in the day and his two Cabinet ministers visited the shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.  Aug. 15 is the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II and is celebrated in Korea as its independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.  "The government expresses deep disappointment and regret that responsible leaders of Japan's government and parliament again sent the offering or repeated their visits to the Yasukuni Shrine," South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement.