The foreign ministry expressed "deep regret" over Koizumi's trip to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which is dedicated to lives lost in Japanese military campaigns -- including 14 World War II convicted war criminals.

"It is really hard to understand that Japan's highest government official continues to pay homage to those war criminals," the ministry said in a statement.

"We cannot but express anger as well as anxiety as it hurts the feelings of our people again."

South Korea regards the shrine as a symbol of Japan's former militarism. Japan colonized the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

The foreign ministry statement, viewed here as couched in the strongest language yet used on the Yasukuni issue, said the enshrined Japanese war criminals had brought "unspeakable damage and pain" to the South Korean people.

"We strongly urge Prime Minister Koizumi to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine ... if he sincerely wants to develop friendly relations with neighboring states," ministry spokesman Shin Bong-Kil said.

The shrine visit coincided with South Korea's opening of its markets to a broader range of Japanese cultural products in a bid to improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo.

The South Korean government has gradually eased bans on Japanese cultural products since 1998 despite protests from anti-Japanese activists.

In the latest fence-mending gesture, Seoul has allowed from January 1 the showing of Japanese movies and the sale of game software, CDs and records.

The broadcasting of Japanese-language songs and Japanese-made dramas on radio and television will remain banned in South Korea, however.

WAR.WIRE