Japanese Official Sorry For WWII Remarks

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma apologized Sunday for saying the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan during World War II "couldn't be helped," a news report said, in an apparent move to contain damage ahead of parliamentary elections next month.

"I am sorry if my comments gave the impression I disrespect the victims," Kyodo News agency quoted Kyuma as saying at a news conference in Nagasaki, where he is from. "I will refrain from making such comments."

The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II, in the world's only nuclear attacks.

In a speech Saturday, Kyuma said, "I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped." His comments drew sharp criticism from survivors, and some opposition lawmakers called for his dismissal.

"The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed the two cities at once ... killing hundreds of thousands of people," said Terumi Tanaka, secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, an A-bomb survivors group.

"His remarks are nothing but verbal abuse. ... We demand the minister retract his comments immediately," Tanaka said in a statement late Saturday.

The opposition Social Democratic Party called for Kyuma's removal from office.

"We will question Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe's appointment of him and we will call for the minister's dismissal," party policy chief Tomoko Abe said Sunday on TV Asahi before the apology was reported.

The defense minister had earlier tried to quell criticism by saying his comments had been misinterpreted.

Kyuma told reporters late Saturday he meant to say the bombing "could not be helped from the American point of view."

Prime Minister Abe reportedly played down Kyuma's remarks on Saturday, saying his understanding was that Kyuma was explaining American views.

However, other prominent members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were more critical.

Shoichi Nakagawa, LDP policy chief, urged Kyuma on Sunday to "explain what he really meant and quickly respond if he thinks his comments have caused trouble," without elaborating.

The embarrassment comes as Abe's scandal-tainted government struggles to gain support from voters ahead of July 29 upper house elections.

"This will greatly impact the upper house vote as we have yet to contain the headwind" from a widening pension scandal, LDP lawmaker Yoichi Masuzoe was quoted as saying by the Nikkei business newspaper Sunday.

On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people. Three days later it dropped another on Nagasaki, where city officials say about 74,000 died. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945.

Bombing survivors have developed various illnesses, including cancer and liver diseases, from radiation exposure.

In the United States, the bombs were widely seen as a weapon of last resort against an enemy that was determined to fight to the death, but instead surrendered unconditionally six days after Nagasaki was attacked.

Critics — including many Japanese and some Americans — believe U.S. President Harry Truman's government had other motives: a wish to test a terrifying weapon and the need to strengthen Washington's hand against Moscow in what would become the Cold War.