Under LDP pressure, Kyuma retracts A-bomb comments

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma apologized Sunday for his comments taken as justifying the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

His apology came under pressure from ruling party officials concerned that another gaffe by a member of the Abe Cabinet — which has already been battered by the pension fiasco and other scandals — could play into the opposition camp's hands ahead of the House of Councilors election July 29.

In fact, Kyuma said on a Sunday morning talk show on Fuji TV that there was no need to correct the comments he made a day earlier. But he was later forced to retract them amid a barrage of criticism from officials in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito.

"I am sorry that my remarks gave an impression that A-bomb victims were made light of," Kyuma said at a news conference later in the day in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, where he is from.

In a speech Saturday in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, he said, "I understand the bombing (in Nagasaki) brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defended Kyuma after the speech, but the defense minister still ended up having to apologize, bowing to mounting pressure from his party.

The LDP is facing a tough fight in the upcoming Upper House election. Abe's support ratings have plummeted in the polls and his government has been hit by a steady stream of scandals.

At his news conference, Kyuma, who became the first chief of the Defense Ministry after it was upgraded from defense status in January, said, "There were inappropriate points as my remarks were reported in that way."

He repeated he had no intention of justifying the atomic bombings, saying he has consistently pursued nuclear disarmament.

On the Fuji TV program, Kyuma said he will not resign as defense minister over the remarks.

"There is no need to correct the remarks," he said. "If they were misinterpreted, however, I have to explain closely."

The U.S. atomic bombings in 1945 made Japan the first and still only nation to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.

Kyuma's comments drew immediate criticism from A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There are moves among opposition parties to press Abe to dismiss Kyuma.

LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa talked with Kyuma over the phone Sunday before his press conference and told him to withdraw his remarks as they were misinterpreted, according to LDP officials.

Appearing on TV Asahi Sunday morning, senior officials of the LDP and its ruling coalition partner New Komeito criticized Kyuma's remarks.

LDP policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa said, "If the remarks were misinterpreted, (Kyuma) should explain and make an apology if necessary."

New Komeito policy chief Tetsuo Saito said a Cabinet minister should never have made such comments.

Kyuma caused a flap in January when he said the U.S. was "wrong" for invading Iraq.

For related stories:
Ozawa hits Abe over Kyuma remarks
A-bombings 'couldn't be helped': Kyuma