2ND LD: Abe cautions Kyuma to watch his tongue following A-bomb remarks

(EDS: UPDATING WITH FRESH INFO)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma on Monday to be more careful with his words following weekend comments taken as justifying the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan in World War II, in a desperate effort to minimize possible negative impact on his ruling Liberal Democratic Party just weeks ahead of an already uphill election battle.

But Abe rejected calls from the opposition that Kyuma be sacked, saying he hopes the minister will continue his duties especially on promoting nuclear disarmament ''after having reflected on his words and fully grasped the weight of such remarks.'' Criticism, however, continued to grow even from within the ruling coalition.

Kyuma, who apologized for and retracted the remarks Sunday, indicated to reporters after being summoned by Abe on Monday morning that he has no intention of resigning.

The defense minister, who is himself from Nagasaki, caused a stir on Saturday when he said in a speech, ''I understand the bombing (of Nagasaki) brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped.''

The untimely blunder came as the approval rating for Abe's Cabinet fell to a record low of 32.0 percent in a Kyodo News survey over the weekend, down 1.5 percentage points from a week earlier. Disapproval edged up to 58.1 percent, exactly a month ahead of the July 29 House of Councillors election.

''I told (the minister) that Japan is the world's only country to have suffered from atomic bombs and that we must always stand from the viewpoint of the A-bomb sufferers in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and consider their feelings,'' Abe told reporters separately. ''I cautioned him to take care not to make remarks that will cause misunderstanding.''

''Of course, I believe A-bomb victims in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, as well as their families and relatives, are very angry. Minister Kyuma must therefore clearly explain his true intentions and apologize to them and the general public,'' the premier said.

Despite such moves in Tokyo, protests over the remarks continued in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue saying he will protest directly to Abe and Kyuma as early as Tuesday in Tokyo.

The defense minister ''lacks consideration for the A-bombing survivors and Nagasaki citizens,'' Taue told reporters in Nagasaki, while suggesting he may reject Kyuma's attendance at the Aug. 9 memorial service.

Asked by reporters in the evening if he would meet with Taue, Abe stopped short of giving any clear answer and only said, ''I have not heard that he wants to visit my office. I will consider how to respond when there is a request from the mayor.''

The Nagasaki city assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a statement which says Kyuma ''disrespects the feelings of the A-bombing survivors and his remarks are unforgivable.''

Atomic bombing survivors, peace campaigners and labor union members in Nagasaki, meanwhile, staged a sit-in in the peace memorial park there, and some 100 people gathered in front of the cenotaph for victims of the bombing in Hiroshima, seeking Kyuma's dismissal.

In Tokyo, Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima told the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that she is still seeking the dismissal of Kyuma, saying, ''He does not pay attention to the continuing sufferings'' of the atomic-bombing survivors and their children as well as grandchildren.

''Following the upgrade of the Defense Agency to a ministry, its minister seems to have nothing to be frightened of and to start running out of control,'' Fukushima said.

The ruling LDP is concerned about the possibility of adverse impact on the party in the upper house election as Abe's administration has already been hit by a fiasco involving pension recordkeeping blunders and other scandals.