Keiji Furuya, state minister for the North Korea abductee issue, may visit war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the 68th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, a government official said Saturday.
In addition to Furuya, who also chairs the National Public Safety Commission, at least two other members of right-wing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet could visit the controversial Shinto shrine for the occasion.
China and South Korea view Yasukuni, which enshrines 14 convicted or accused Class-A war criminals along with the nation's war dead, as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. The two countries have been enraged by previous visits to the shrine by prime ministers and Diet lawmakers.