Kan to offer apology for S. Korea over annexation+

TOKYO, Aug. 5 Kyodo -
The Japanese government has decided to issue a statement by Prime Minister
Naoto Kan, apologizing to South Korea for its colonial rule on the centenary
this month of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula, government sources
said Thursday.
Kan's Cabinet is making final arrangements to endorse it as early as next week,
the sources said.
The government is planning to release the statement either before Aug. 15, when
South Korea celebrates liberation from Japan's colonial rule or Aug. 29, the
day the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was proclaimed 100 years ago, the sources
said.
To avoid creating an impression that Japan is conveying an excessive apology,
and because the government is hoping to send out future-oriented messages, the
Cabinet is considering it would not be a good idea to release it on the exact
date of either anniversary, the sources said.
The government plans to include in the statement a phrase expressing ''deep
remorse and an apology'' for Japan's colonial rule, similar to a statement
released in August 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, the sources
said.
The statement to be released this time is expected to be directed only at South
Korea, whereas the Murayama statement and a similar statement announced in 2005
by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized to Asian victims of Japan's
past aggression.
But even within the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, some lawmakers do not
want to see a Cabinet-endorsed statement, saying such a document would signify
a Japanese diplomacy of repeatedly offering apologies, the sources said.
''We're discussing the matter with the premier,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yoshito Sengoku said at a news conference on Thursday. ''We're carefully
examining what kind of content is favorable if we decide to release a
statement.''
Many opposition lawmakers are against the release, with Liberal Democratic
Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki saying, ''I have serious doubts about its
necessity.''
According to the sources, the statement is expected to refer to the annexation
and offering Japan's ''deep remorse and an apology.''
It is also likely to say that the current Japan-South Korea relationship is
good and that Japan will aim to achieve future-oriented relations, basically
adhering to expressions in a Japan-South Korea joint declaration issued in
1998.
But Japan will not include remarks on North Korea amid outstanding issues of
past abductions of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang, and nuclear and missile
developments, the sources said.
The South Korean side hopes that the statement would have bolder expressions,
with Japan offering an apology by admitting the annexation was illegal.
But a senior government official was not in favor of such a statement, saying,
''If key words of past statements are changed, it would have new meaning.''
In late July, Kan consulted with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and confirmed
the outline of the statement, the sources said.
==Kyodo
2010-08-06 00:07:17


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