Japan court refuses to remove name of living S. Korean from Yasukuni Shrine

TOKYO, July 21 (Yonhap) -- A Tokyo court on Thursday ruled against a South Korean man who had filed a suit against a Japanese shrine, which honors him together with convicted World War II criminals even though he is alive.
The 86-year-old Kim Hui-jong, whose other personal information was withheld, took the legal action in 2007 against the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and the Japanese government, demanding his name be removed from the shrine's nameplate.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors a number of convicted World War II criminals and has frequently made headlines, as Japanese leaders regularly visit there, triggering concern among South Koreans that Japan is not remorseful about its past atrocities that were committed during its 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula.
"Putting his memorial tablet at the shrine was an unavoidable mistake," a presiding judge of the Tokyo District Court said in a ruling.
Kim and his lawyers were not immediately reached for comment on whether they will appeal the ruling. Kim sued the Japanese government in 1959 twice to take his nameplate out of the Yasukuni Shrine, but those suits were dismissed by the Japanese court.
On Thursday, the court also rejected actions filed by bereaved South Korean families of nine World War II victims, who have demanded their deceased members be eliminated from the shrine.
"The ruling is the worst ever, and I feel ashamed as a Japanese citizen," an attorney for the plaintiffs said. "Judges seem to have no idea about what Japan should repent of, while putting priority only on the freedom of religion."
graceoh@yna.co.kr