Tokyo, Aug 10 (DPA) Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized Tuesday to South Korea for his nation’s colonial rule of Korea ahead of the 100th anniversary of the annexation of the Korean peninsula later this month.
Kan expressed regret for the suffering inflicted during the
1910-45 colonial period, in a statement released five days before Koreans celebrate their independence Aug 15.
Japan felt ‘deep remorse’ and offered its ‘heartfelt apology for the tremendous damage and suffering’ under the colonial rule, the prime minister said.
Japan’s colonial rule ‘deprived the people of Korea of their nation and culture and deeply hurt their ethnic pride’, he said.
Tokyo also plans to return cultural artifacts taken from the peninsula ‘in the near future’, Kan said.
These include some royal records of the Joseon Dynasty, currently being kept by the Japan’s Imperial Household Agency, the statement said.
Kan said he hopes Japan’s relations with South Korea can be
strengthened at this historical juncture.
Kyodo News reported that South Korea’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the gesture.
‘We accept the prime minister’s statement as the Japanese
government’s resolve to overcome that unfortunate past between South Korea and Japan and to create a bright South Korea-Japan relationship in the future.’
