3RD LD: Abe denies sacking Kyuma following apology over A-bomb comments

(EDS: RECASTING)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday he will not sack Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma who apologized for recent comments that were taken as justifying the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II.

Abe also ruled out calling on the United States to apologize for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

''I want Mr. Kyuma to exercise his leadership as the defense minister on the issue of nuclear disarmament in the future, too,'' Abe said during a debate with main opposition Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa.

Abe also said, ''Our task will not be to spend energy on pressing the United States to apologize but to make efforts and to do our utmost toward nuclear disarmament,'' referring to the 1945 atomic bombings.

Describing the U.S. atomic bombings as ''an unforgivable act,'' Abe also signaled it would be unrealistic for Japan to call on the United States for such an apology while also seeking Washington's protection under its nuclear umbrella.

''On the diplomatic front, the thing would be like this: We call for a U.S. apology and we must request the United States provide nuclear deterrence,'' Abe said, brushing aside Ozawa's call for Tokyo to apply diplomatic pressure on Washington for an apology.

Abe said that the creation of a world free of nuclear weapons is Japan's ''ultimate goal'' as the only country to have experienced nuclear attacks.

But Abe also said that Japan currently needs the U.S. military deterrence as it was faced with North Korea's nuclear test and test-launch of ballistic missiles last year. ''That's the reality,'' he said.

Abe also ruled out the possibility of dissolving the House of Representatives and holding an election for it along with the July 29 House of Councillors election, saying, ''I'm not thinking at all about a dissolution.''

Earlier Sunday, Kyuma apologized for controversial remarks he made Saturday regarding the atomic bombing of Nagasaki by the United States in 1945. Kyuma hails from Nagasaki Prefecture.

''I am sorry that my remarks gave an impression that A-bomb victims were made light of,'' Kyuma said at a press conference in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. Kyuma is a veteran lawmaker of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party.

Kyuma made the apology only hours after he had said earlier Sunday that there was no need to correct his comments. Kyuma was effectively forced to retract the remarks, bowing to mounting pressure from the LDP as well as A-bomb victims and opposition parties.

In a speech Saturday in Kashiwa, east of Tokyo, Kyuma said, ''I understand the bombing (in Nagasaki) brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped.''

The LDP is concerned about the possible adverse impact of the remarks on the July 29 upper house election. Abe's government has been already hit by a fiasco connected to pension records and other scandals.

At the press conference, Kyuma, who is the first chief of the Defense Ministry, which was upgraded from the defense agency in January, said, ''The comments, as reported by the media, were inappropriate.''

He repeated that he had had no intention of justifying the atomic bombings, saying he has consistently stuck to the position of pursuing nuclear disarmament.

LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa spoke to Kyuma by telephone Sunday before the press conference and told him to withdraw his remarks as they were misinterpreted, according to LDP officials.

Appearing on TV programs Sunday morning, senior officials from the LDP and its ruling coalition partner, the New Komeito party, also criticized Kyuma for his 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 not have made such comments.

The U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II made Japan the first and only nation to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.