LEAD: Kyuma apologizes, retracts A-bombing comments

(EDS: ADDING INFO)

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma apologized Sunday over comments he made Saturday that were taken as justifying the wartime atomic bombing of Japan in 1945 by the United States.

He effectively retracted his comments amid a barrage of criticism from some officials of Japan's ruling camp as well as A-bomb victims and opposition parties.

''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, where he is from.

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

On a television program earlier Sunday, Kyuma said he will not resign as defense minister over the remarks, adding, ''There is no need to correct the remarks.'' ''If they were misinterpreted, however, I have to explain closely.''

The U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II 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 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to dismiss Kyuma.

Senior officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito party criticized Kyuma on Sunday for his remarks.