The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a South Korean man to four years in prison for detonating a time bomb in a public restroom at a controversial Tokyo war shrine in 2015.

The 28-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Chon, was found guilty in July last year by the Tokyo District Court of breaking into the premises of the Yasukuni Shrine on Nov. 23, 2015, and setting up the bomb in a public restroom. 

The incident, which resulted in no loss of life but damaged the restroom's ceiling, prompted a bomb disposal unit to be mobilized.

He was arrested in December 2015 shortly after voluntarily returning to Tokyo by plane.

In Tuesday's ruling, the court also found Chon guilty of violating laws on explosives control and tariffs.

Chon and his legal representative have been demanding a suspended sentence as he had no intention to hurt people, while admitting to the wrongdoings. Prosecutors had originally sought a five-year sentence. 

South Korea and China view the Yasukuni Shrine -- which honors over 2.4 million war dead, including 14 convicted Class-A war criminals -- as a symbol of Japan's past imperialism.

Many South Koreans still harbor deep resentment against Japan over its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)