Shigeru Ishiba

Talks with Japan.

So Prime Minister Han Sung-suk has met former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Despite our differences, there's a lot of areas of mutual interest.

Run us through what was discussed.

The nonpartisan Parliamentary Association for Reconsidering Human Rights Diplomacy said Japan's reaction, despite being a state party to the court, was far weaker than those of other countries.

The association is co-chaired by former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, and former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is a member.

It called on the government to clearly protest the sanctions and demand their immediate withdrawal.

The criticism was directed at the Japanese government's response to the sanctions, which has so far been limited to describing them as very unfortunate in remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and a statement from the Foreign Ministry press secretary.

After Abe, the nation's longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020, his successors Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida followed his lead.

Shigeru Ishiba altered this trajectory last year by reinstating remorse and pledge of non-war.

We must never again lose our way, he said in his speech.

We must now take deeply into our hearts once again our remorse and also the lessons learned from that war.

Professor Wang, just now you mentioned the word remorse.

Interestingly, last year while speaking at the anniversary marking the 80th anniversary of Japan's, uh, unconditional surrender, Japanese, uh, Emperor Naruhito expressed "deep remorse," while then Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba also said Japan must deeply reflect on the remorse and lessons of the war.

Dr. Powell, were these remarks really about sincere remorse or again, there were more hidden nuances behind the use of these words?

Look, I think for many decades, uh, Japan and a large section of its political elite in particular, and sections of the Japanese community, by all means not all sections of the Japanese population of course, but a substantial proportion, have struggled with accepting responsibility actually for the atrocities committed not only during the Second World War itself, but indeed in the decade plus prior to the Second World War, particularly in terms of its aggressions in China and the prosecution of not only the atrocities in the Nanjing massacre, but as we now know, the heinous biological experiments that were undertaken in the name of Unit 731.