Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to include the words "apology" and "aggression" in a statement he will issue Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, government sources said Monday.

Abe is considering using the term "aggression" to show Japan's commitment to observing an international principle of banning countries from committing aggression, without limiting its context to Japan's acts during and before World War II, the sources said.

Abe has been making final adjustments as to whether he will express a fresh apology to people mainly in Asia that suffered from Japan's wartime acts, they said.