Major newspapers in Japan on Friday blasted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s nationalist remarks denying the country’s past invasion of the Korean Peninsula, urging the hawkish leader not tell misleading facts about Japan’s imperial past.

“It is a historical fact that Japan had invaded and colonized its surrounding countries in the past,” Mainichi newspaper said in its editorial. “For P.M. to attempt to distort that fact is a problem.”

In the editorial, the paper blasted Abe’s “historical understanding” and pointed out that his comments were inappropriate.

Asahi Shimbun also criticized the premier, warning him that an apparent denial of Japan’s incursion can result in declining trust not only from its neighbors, but also from the West.

Earlier this week, Abe told the Japanese parliament that the definition of invasion is not set in stone and that it varies by country. His statement is widely interpreted as an attempt to justify his country’s actions during World War II.

Abe’s comments and Japanese lawmakers’ recent visits to the controversial Yasukuni shrine -- which honors many top war criminals from WW II -- rapidly cooled the already volatile relationship between South Korea and Japan.


From news reports
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)