Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama knelt down before a Seoul monument dedicated to the deceased victims of Japanese colonial rule of Korea in the 1940s.
Hatoyama, who was Japan's leader from 2009 to 2010, on Wednesday visited the monument at Seoul's Seodaemun Prison History Hall, a symbol of the harsh 1910-45 Japanese colonialism on Korean soil, to pay his respect and make an apology to the victims.
Hatoyama came to Seoul to attend an East Asia peace forum which kicks off today for a two-day run.
The former Japanese premier who once led the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan also urged the incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize "from the heart" for Japan's World War Two atrocities.
Back in Tokyo, Hatoyama has also joined four other former Japanese prime ministers -- Morihiro Hosokawa, Tsutomu Hata, Tomiichi Murayama and Naoto Kan -- to issue a statement to harshly criticize Abe over his push for security bills that would greatly broaden the role of the Self-Defense Forces overseas.
Meanwhile, U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement on Wednesday, calling for Japan's "humble reflection of past history".
[저작권자(c) YTN 무단전재, 재배포 및 AI 데이터 활용 금지]