By Jun Ji-hye
Calls are growing within the United States for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize about his country's wartime misdeeds during his visit to the U.S. next week, which will include an address to a joint session of Congress.
The calls come amid mounting signs that Abe is unlikely to issue a new apology during the week-long visit about Imperial Japan's colonial rule and wartime atrocities.
The New York Times said in an editorial published Monday that "the success of the visit depends on whether and how honestly Mr. Abe confronts Japan's wartime history, including its decision to wage war, its brutal occupation of China and Korea, its atrocities and its enslavement of thousands of women forced to work as sex slaves or ‘comfort women' in wartime brothels."
Also Monday, the Washington Post published an interview with former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, in which he criticized Abe for aggravating relations with neighboring countries. Murayama issued the landmark 1995 "Murayama Statement" of apology for Tokyo's wartime wrongdoing.
"China and Korea accepted my statement and things were going peacefully, but now that Mr. Abe has stirred things up again, all eyes are back on this issue," Murayama was quoted as saying.
For its part, PoliticusUSA, a U.S. news outlets on political news, said Abe must use his speech before Congress to "show sincere repentance for the past."
Abe earlier claimed that he sees no need for the statement, scheduled to be issued on Aug. 15 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, to repeat previous statements of apology.
Seoul has so far demanded that Japan show sincerity by resolving the issue of its sexual enslavement of Korean women in a way that is acceptable to the surviving victims.
But Japan has long dismissed Seoul's demands, saying that all grievances related to its 1910-45 colonial rule were settled through a 1965 treaty that normalized their bilateral ties.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
Calls are growing within the United States for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize about his country's wartime misdeeds during his visit to the U.S. next week, which will include an address to a joint session of Congress.
The calls come amid mounting signs that Abe is unlikely to issue a new apology during the week-long visit about Imperial Japan's colonial rule and wartime atrocities.
The New York Times said in an editorial published Monday that "the success of the visit depends on whether and how honestly Mr. Abe confronts Japan's wartime history, including its decision to wage war, its brutal occupation of China and Korea, its atrocities and its enslavement of thousands of women forced to work as sex slaves or ‘comfort women' in wartime brothels."
Also Monday, the Washington Post published an interview with former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, in which he criticized Abe for aggravating relations with neighboring countries. Murayama issued the landmark 1995 "Murayama Statement" of apology for Tokyo's wartime wrongdoing.
"China and Korea accepted my statement and things were going peacefully, but now that Mr. Abe has stirred things up again, all eyes are back on this issue," Murayama was quoted as saying.
For its part, PoliticusUSA, a U.S. news outlets on political news, said Abe must use his speech before Congress to "show sincere repentance for the past."
Abe earlier claimed that he sees no need for the statement, scheduled to be issued on Aug. 15 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, to repeat previous statements of apology.
Seoul has so far demanded that Japan show sincerity by resolving the issue of its sexual enslavement of Korean women in a way that is acceptable to the surviving victims.
But Japan has long dismissed Seoul's demands, saying that all grievances related to its 1910-45 colonial rule were settled through a 1965 treaty that normalized their bilateral ties.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
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