Prime Minister Naoto Kan may issue a government statement, endorsed by the Cabinet, apologizing to South Korea as this month marks the centennial of the annexation of the Korean Peninsula, official sources said Thursday.
Seoul has been closely watching whether Kan will release some form of statement on Japan's interpretation of its colonial past and future relations between the two countries on or around Aug. 29, the day the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was proclaimed 100 years ago.
The statement could also be released before Aug. 15, when South Korea celebrates liberation from Japan's colonial rule, the sources said.