The New York Times (NYT) has called for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to honestly confront Japan's wartime history.

In an April 20 editorial titled "Shinzo Abe and Japan's History," the newspaper's editorial board wrote that Prime Minister Abe will be the first Japanese leader to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress and that the context is also important in light of the upcoming 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II later this year. It also said the success of the visit depends on "whether and how honestly Mr. Abe confronts Japan's wartime history," including its brutal occupation of China and Korea and its enslavement of thousands of women forced to work as sex slaves.



The editorial pointed out the Japanese PM's role in questioning and distorting history. "That it [history] is not settled is largely the fault of Mr. Abe and his right-wing political allies who keep questioning history and even trying to rewrite it, stoking regional tensions," the newspaper wrote. "Mr. Abe may have more to say on all this on Aug. 15, the actual date of the surrender. But his remarks to Congress will send an important signal."

The NYT acknowledged Prime Minister Abe's publicly expressed remorse on behalf of Japan's historic aggression and that he agreed to honor Japan’s past apologies, but cast suspicion on the wording of his statements, suggesting that he doesn't take the apologies seriously.

The newspaper also mentioned the recent criticisms by Korea and China of Japan’s education ministry for forcing publishers of middle-school textbooks to revise descriptions of historical events, "including the ownership of disputed islands and war crimes." Also, the editorial mentioned the Abe administration's unsuccessful efforts in 2014 to persuade the United Nations to revise a 1996 human rights report on Japan's wartime enslavement of comfort women.

The NYT went on to praise Emperor Akihito of Japan and Crown Prince Naruhito for setting a better example, quoting the Crown Prince's emphasis of the need to “correctly pass down history to future generations." The editorial added that Japan cannot credibly fill that broader role of establishing his country as a 21st-century leader if it seeks to repudiate criticism of its past.

To see the original text, please visit the New York Times. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/opinion/shinzo-abe-and-japans-history.html?_r=0#)

By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
jun2@korea.kr