Taro Aso, Japan's Finance Minister and one-time prime minister has come under fire for reckless remarks that referred to the Nazi regime as inspiration for Japan's constitutional revision.
According to Kyodo News Agency, Aso suggested in a lecture in Tokyo that Japan study how Germany's Weimar Constitution was transformed into the Nazi regime, before anybody realized what was happening.
His comments stressed Japan's constitutional revision should be done quietly.
In response Seoul's Foreign Ministry called on Tokyo to "be prudent in its words and deeds" and to take "a humble stance as a former invader."
Korea's ruling and main opposition parites denounced Aso's remarks as provocations on par with Pyongyang's nuclear threat and said Japanese leaders should not fantasize about their country's past military imperialism.