former Japanese PM: Abe has no choice but to honor past wartime apology

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, known for his apology for past wartime atrocities while in office, said Wednesday that Shinzo Abe, incumbent prime minister, has no choice but to honor the Murayama Statement. "All previous prime ministers of Japan said that they inherit the Murayama Statement. Abe also stated once that he inherits the statement. I believe there has been no falsehood in that pledge," Murayama said during his lecture to South Korean lawmakers at the parliamentary headquarters. Murayama came here Tuesday for a three-day visit to Seoul at the invitation of South Korea's minor opposition Justice Party. Murayama made an official apology via the famous "Murayama Statement" in 1995, when he was in office, for Japan's past atrocities and war of aggression during its colonial rule of Asian nations. Murayama said he was assured of Abe's succession of its past apology because he cannot deny Japan's invasion in the past, noting that anyone who denies the Murayama Statement should resign from his Cabinet post. Touching on Abe's push for collective self-defense right, Murayama said that Japan declared its abandonment of waging a war through the pacifist Constitution, which prevented the Japanese self-defense forces from falling into a war. The 91-year-old stressed that the constitution must be protected in any event, saying that there were many Japanese people who share such thought with him. He added that it will contribute to national interests of Japan, while benefiting South Korea and China, and peace and prosperity in the region.