TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio is unlikely to express remorse over World War II in a speech at the US Congress on April 11, Japanese government officials said Wednesday.

The issue of Japan’s position on the war “has been settled to some extent” and Kishida “will not touch on it in the speech,” a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. The speech will be “future-oriented,” an aide to Kishida said.

Kishida will be the first Japanese prime minister to deliver a speech at a joint session of the US Congress since ABE Shinzo did in April 2015.

In his 2015 speech on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, Abe said, “We started out on our path bearing in mind feelings of deep remorse over the war.”

Kishida will give his speech in English. He will state that Japan and the United States are partners in maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law.

He will emphasize that based on the Japan-US alliance, Japan will boost multilateral cooperation with countries, including South Korea, Australia and India.

Kishida will also say that he will promote security and economic cooperation with US President Joe Biden.

In a summit at the White House on April 10, Kishida and Biden are expected to agree on defense technology development among Japan, the United States, Britain and Australia.

A Japan-US joint statement to be released after the summit is likely to include a plan to start talks to allow US commercial rockets to be launched in Japan and technology cooperation in the development of offshore wind power.

JIJI Press