What Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may say this summer in a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II has already become a politically charged subject of speculation.

A private advisory panel to Abe tasked to discuss the issue held its first meeting on Wednesday. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the panel's discussions are not aimed at drafting the text but rather fielding broad opinions as the government weighs the content of the statement — an indication that the views of the panel members may not necessarily be reflected in the text. Abe appears determined to take the lead in setting the tone of the statement.

It will be a statement issued in the prime minister's name, but at the same time, the anniversary statement — just like the 1995 statement by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama — will be considered the government's official position on Japan's responsibility for its wars in the 1930s and '40s.