Tokyo - The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Keizo Obuchi, is to apologise for Japan's colonial rule of the Korean peninsula when President Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea visits next week.
"The Prime Minister is to send a message to Korean people based on remarks made by former prime minister [Mr Tomiichi] Murayama," the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr Hiromu Nonaka, said. In 1995 Mr Murayama said he felt deep remorse and offered his "heartfelt apology" to Asian people for the "colonial rule and aggression" pursued by Japan before and during the second World War.