The South Korean Foreign Ministry has described Tomomi Inada's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine as "beyond deplorable". It has summoned the minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Kohei Maruyama, to lodge a formal protest against the visit, while the South Korean Defense Ministry called in Hideaki Takahashi, the Japanese Defense Attache to South Korea. 

"Our government sternly reminds Japan that its leading figures can only gain the trust of neighbouring countries and the international community by squarely facing history and carrying out self-introspection and self-reflection of their actions," said Cho June-hyuck, spokesperson of South Korean Foreign Ministry.