While the Abe administration seems to be in denial of the country′s wartime atrocities, the majority of the Japanese public seems to be of a different mind.
A recent poll shows... they think their government should show remorse for Japan′s historical wrongdoing in a statement to be released by the Abe Cabinet this summer.
Hwang Sung-hee reports.
The majority of the Japanese public says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should uphold the apology for Japan′s wartime atrocities expressed by his predecessors.
A poll conducted by the Sankei Shimbun and Fuji News Network showed more than half of the respondents think a forthcoming statement by Abe... should retain words like "aggression," "remorse" and "apology" used in the Murayama Statement.
Abe is set to release a statement this summer to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.
The Japanese leader has hinted at moving away from the landmark apology issued in 1995 by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, saying he wants the statement to reflect his government′s position.
But polls conducted by other Japanese media outlets including the Asahi Shimbun, NHK and Yomiuri Shimbun have all produced similar results: that the Abe statement should carry words of remorse and apology over Japan′s wartime role.
So will the public sentiment be enough to sway the Japanese leader?
"We are going to see a struggle between Shinzo Abe the politician, who does what the majority wants him to do, versus Shinzo Abe the principle-committed defender of a proud Japan that has no more apologies for its past."
If Abe retains the expressions of remorse, experts say Korea could take it as a signal of his sincerity and an occasion to move forward in its current frosty relations with Japan.
"The bigger question is whether the Korean public will be ready to accept the gesture. Experts say the government in Seoul will have to tread carefully to see if they have public support and move slowly on the issue.
Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News."
