Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an interview aired Thursday that he will issue a statement in the summer to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II based on "remorse over the war."
"Japan, a country that brought significant suffering to the people of Asia (during and before the war), has contributed to the development of Asia based on remorse over the war," Abe said on a Nippon Television Network program. "With such pride in heart, I would like to issue a message at home and abroad that (Japan) will make further contributions to peace in Asia and the world."
The TV broadcaster conducted the interview in Washington after Abe delivered a speech at a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday in which he expressed "deep remorse" over the war and said Japan "must not avert our eyes" from the suffering it brought to people in other Asian countries.