Japan issues apology for colonial rule of Korea
Japan's government on Tuesday issued an apology for the country's past colonial rule of the Korean peninsula ahead of the August 29 centenary of the annexation.
In a statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed deep regret over the suffering inflicted during Japan's colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.
The apology was timed to also precede South Korea's celebration of its 1945 liberation on August 15.
Kan expressed his "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for the tremendous damage and suffering brought by the colonial rule".
"Through the colonial rule that was against their will... the people of Korea were deprived of their nation and culture and their ethnic pride was deeply hurt," he said in the statement.
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