A plan for the first-ever visit to Hiroshima by a sitting U.S. president was expected to draw a mixed reaction in the region, where China and South Korea have accused Japan of glossing over its actions in World War II and playing up its own victimhood.
Seoul's reaction Wednesday was muted: "We understand that it was arranged under President Obama's vision for peace and safety through a world free of nuclear weapons," a Foreign Ministry official said, according to the Yonhap news agency.
China's Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday said Japan is "using Hiroshima to whitewash its crimes instead of truly reflecting on its wartime past."