Japan’s Ruling Coalition Again Balks at Passing Forceful Apology for War
With time running out, Japan’s ruling coalition failed again Monday to resolve a deadlock over Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama’s drive to push through Parliament an unambiguous apology for World War II.
The key issue is whether Japan should apologize for waging “aggressive war” against Asian neighbors and imposing “colonial rule.” Conservative coalition members have bitterly opposed a unilateral war apology.
When they formed the alliance last June, Murayama’s Socialists, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, and the small New Party Harbinger agreed to adopt an apology to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The Socialists have threatened to withdraw from the coalition--leaving the LDP to run a minority government--if the apology is not approved. Murayama has set the end of the current parliamentary session on June 18 as a deadline for action.
Meanwhile, LDP legislator and former Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe, who provoked outrage in South Korea on Saturday by saying Japan “peacefully” took over the Korean peninsula in 1910, withdrew his claim Monday and apologized.
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