A government advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is leaning toward proposing that the war anniversary statement he will issue this summer describe World War II as an act of "aggression," a panel member indicated.
"There is no one who denies the fact that the previous war was an (act of) aggression," the panel member told reporters Tuesday, indicating that the word "aggression" will be used in the report that the panel will soon submit to Abe.
But it is Abe who will make the ultimate decision on the wording of the statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15.