Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, in the South Korean capital to cement bilateral cooperation over North Korea's nuclear development program, ran into an apparent snub Wednesday over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.
In an apparent expression of displeasure at Koizumi's shrine visit the day before, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung abruptly canceled a meeting with Kawaguchi.
The shrine honors Class-A war criminals along with Japan's war dead and is regarded as a symbol of the nation's militarist past.
Koizumi has now visited the shrine three times since taking office in April 2001.