Abe sorry for minister's A-bomb remark

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized Sunday for the first time over his former defense minister's suggestion that the U.S. nuclear attacks on Japan were justified.

On Monday, Hiroshima marked the 62nd anniversary of the world's first-ever atomic bomb attack, which killed more than 140,000 people. There, Abe pledged to work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Abe also promised in a private meeting with survivors in Hiroshima to expand medical support for those still suffering the effects of the 1945 blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, officials and media reports said. The government has been criticized for strict eligibility standards that have limited medical care to many survivors.

Japan's former Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said in a June speech that although the attacks caused great suffering, Japan would have fought on and lost a greater part of its northern territory to the Soviet Union, which invaded Manchuria on the day Nagasaki was bombed.

"I understand that the bombings ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped," he said.

Kyuma's statement, similar to the widely held U.S. belief that the bombings hastened the war's end and thus saved lives, triggered fury in Japan, where many consider the attacks an unjustified slaughter of civilians.

Survivors demanded an apology and a meeting with Abe, whose ruling party recently suffered a stinging parliamentary election loss after a string of scandals including Kyuma's remarks. Abe said he felt sorry that Kyuma's remarks "hurt the feelings of the A-bomb survivors," Kyodo News agency reported, citing an official who attended the closed meeting.

"Now that 62 years have passed since the atomic bombings, we must provide fuller medical and welfare measures," Abe said during the public portion of the event.

Abe also proposed a plan to relax screening of radiation-induced illnesses for those seeking free medical support, said Sunao Tsuboi, a survivor group representative.

After the Hiroshima bombing, a bombing on Nagasaki in southern Japan three days later killed another 74,000.

There are about 252,000 survivors of the attacks, according to the health ministry.

Bombing survivors have developed illnesses from radiation exposure that include cancer and liver disease.

"Japan has been taking the path toward global peace for 62 years since World War II. The tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated in any place on earth," Abe said at a speech Monday at Hiroshima Peace Park, near the bomb's epicenter.

"We will take an initiative in the international community and devote ourselves wholeheartedly toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of peace," he added.

Abe also said Japan will remain committed to the country's three principles of not possessing, developing or allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese soil.

Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba urged the central government to stick to its war-renouncing Constitution.

"The Japanese government should comply with the nation's pacifist Constitution as it is and clearly say no to wrong and outdated policies of the United States," Akiba said.

Ceremonies will also be held on Thursday's anniversary of the Nagasaki attack.

Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, bringing World War II to an end.