S.Korea calls Abe's visit to Yasukuni 'deplorable

South Korea has slammed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a controversial shrine, which honors several Class A criminals of World War Two, as 'deplorable'.

Abe made the sudden trip to the shrine early Thursday morning, in the first such visit by a sitting prime minister since 2006.

Korea's Culture Minister Yoo Jin-ryong said the government could not 'repress condemnation and rage' over the visit to a shrine which 'glorifies Japan's colonial aggression and venerates war criminals.'

The move comes as Japan deals with worsening relations with South Korea and China, and has undermined recent U.S. efforts to decrease tension in the region.

It also comes at a time when Japan is calling for the right to exercise collective self-defense, which was revoked at the end of the Second World War.

Abe explained he did not intend to upset Korea, but rather sought friendship with his neighbors, and said his visit to the shrine was to renew Japan's pledge to 'never wage war again.'