Japan PM Abe makes symbolic visit to US World War II memorial

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Washington’s World War II memorial on Wednesday, hoping to appease criticism of his stance on his country’s brutal past ahead of a landmark speech to Congress.

Abe toured the monument on Washington’s National Mall, which honors hundreds of thousands of Americans who died during the conflict, many at the hands of Japanese forces.

He laid a flower wreath at the Freedom Wall, shortly before he was due to become the first Japanese prime minister in history to address a joint meeting of the US Congress.

News of his address has been greeted by calls for a full apology for Japan’s treatment of an estimated 200,000 mostly Chinese and Korea women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial 

armed forces.

Abe has said he is “deeply pained” to think about what the so-called “comfort women” were subjected to, but has stopped short of a full apology.

In Congress, Abe will come face to face with Lee Yong-Soo, one of those forced into sexual slavery. She is attending at the invitation of Representative Mike Honda, a fierce critic of Abe, who is accused of embracing a “revisionist” account of events. On the eve of the speech, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio also piled the pressure on Abe.

“For the interest of geopolitical stability, not to mention for historical accuracy, I think it’s important for the government of Japan to be more forward-leaning in the pronouncements they’re making,” Rubio said in Los Angeles, the LA Times reported.

“I hope the prime minister will do that tomorrow when he addresses a joint session of Congress.”  If Abe does not go far enough, it could present an obstacle to a trade pact involving Japan and the US but Tokyo hopes the trip to the World War II memorial in Washington will demonstrate Abe’s intent.