If the Democratic Party of Japan hadn't swept to power last year, there may have been no further statements of regret from the country for its imperial past like the one directed at South Korea on Tuesday.
"I express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and my heartfelt apology," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in the statement, issued ahead of the centennial of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula is marked on Aug. 29.
Having apologized for 36 years of colonial rule, Kan emphasized that recent ties with South Korea are more stable and amicable than ever and declared his renewed determination to forge a better future for the two countries by looking to the next 100 years.