Draft of Japan PM's WWII statement includes 'apology': report

Tokyo

A draft of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II includes the word "apology", a report said yesterday, in a possible concession to China and South Korea.

The remarks - expected on Friday - will be carefully scrutinised by Japan's neighbours, who are waiting to see if Abe repeats earlier Japanese apologies for its 20th century militarism.

Public broadcaster NHK said an original draft of Abe's statement included the words "apology" and "aggression".Those words appear in a landmark 1995 statement by then-premier Tomiichi Murayama, who expressed "deep remorse" and a "heartfelt apology" over Japan's actions.

The so-called Murayama Statement said Japan "through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations".

Also yesterday, the right-leaning Sankei newspaper said Abe would likely use the word "aggression", though not necessarily linking it to Japan's wartime actions. "It is likely that he will touch on (aggression) as a universally unforgivable act," the paper said.

Abe's statement is expected a day before August 15, the date Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945. The nationalist premier - who has been criticised by some for playing down Japan's wartime record and trying to expand the role of the military - said last week he would express "remorse" over the war.

He added that he would follow previous explicit prime ministerial apologies over the country's past "as a whole". But Abe has repeatedly talked of the need for what he calls a "forward-looking attitude" that concentrates on the positive role Japan has played - and continues to play - in Asia since its surrender in 1945.