TOKYO, Dec. 26-- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay a visit to the controversial war-linked Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday morning, local media quoted the Japanese government as saying.

The shrine has been seen as a symbol of Japan's past wartime militarism as 14 class-A war criminals were enshrined here among other about 2.5 million Japanese war dead.

The visit by Abe at his one year anniversary of reclaiming the post was out of the Japanese prime minister's intention to gain support from Japanese conservatives, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

Kyodo news also said the move will cast shadow over Japan's relations with neighboring countries, especially with China and South Korea.

Repeated visits to the notorious shrine by Japanese ministers and lawmakers triggered fierce opposition from China and South Korea, both of them suffered Japanese brutal wartime aggression during the World War II.