Seoul, April 25 : North Korea on Saturday criticised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for making a ritual offering to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, calling it a "challenge to international justice."

Takaichi on Tuesday sent an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japanese war dead, including 14 Class A criminals convicted by the Allied forces after World War II. Other prominent Japanese politicians visited the shrine.

"(It) is a blatant distortion of history and a challenge to international justice and peace," a Rodong Sinmun newspaper article read. "It is a place to pay respects to aggressors and war criminals who caused suffering that cannot be healed."

The newspaper accused Tokyo of seeking to "disseminate" militarism through the shrine visits, calling on it to atone for the past, reports Yonhap news agency.

Japanese politicians have faced criticism for sending offerings or visiting the shrine, with neighbouring countries, such as South Korea and China, viewing such actions as an attempt to glorify the country's militaristic past.

Korea was under Japan's colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, while China was invaded by Japan during World War II.

Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the Japanese government, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, of ignoring historical lessons and whitewashing past crimes.

Speaking at a regular press briefing on Friday, Zakharova said Japanese militarists committed horrific crimes during World War II.

Takaichi's recent move of sending offerings to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japanese militarism and wartime aggression, demonstrated the Takaichi administration's disregard for the feelings of the people of neighbouring countries who suffered at the hands of militaristic Japan during World War II, she said.

This once again shows her administration's "absolute ignoring of the lessons of history, and the whitewashing of the most brutal, monstrous crimes of the past," Zakharova said.

She urged Japan to fully acknowledge the results of World War II and abandon its policy of accelerating remilitarisation, reports Xinhua news agency.

Commenting on Japan's easing of arms export restrictions, Zakharova said the move represents a deliberate departure from the country's pacifist principles enshrined in its constitution.

Regarding the Japanese combat troops' participation in the US-Philippine joint military exercises, she said Russia has consistently expressed its concerns regarding Japan's expansion of military activity within the framework of its alliance with the United States, adding that such steps only increase tensions in the Asia Pacific region.

/IANS