Eleven South Korean family members of bereaved soldiers and civilian personnel who served in the Japanese army during the Second World War filed a lawsuit on Monday with the Tokyo District Court, demanding the Yasukuni shrine to stop honoring their relatives and pay damages.

The plaintiffs said that the enshrinement is "against their will" and is "an insult to the Korean people," according to Kyodo News.

It is the first time for bereaved families of South Korean war dead to file a lawsuit against the shrine, instead of the Japanese government.

The Tokyo District Court rejected in May 2006 demands by about 400 plaintiffs who filed a suit against the Japanese government on the enshrinement. The ruling said the enshrinement was the shrine's judgment and decision.

The Yasukuni shrine, which is regarded as a symbol of the Japanese militarism, honors more than 2 million Japanese war dead along with 14 Japan's wartime leaders charged as Class-A war criminals, who are responsible for the most atrocious crimes during Japan's war of aggression against its Asian neighbors.

Source: Xinhua