Japan's Abe apologizes for LDP lawmakers' anti-media remarks

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday apologized for remarks made by several young lawmakers from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last week calling for pressure on media critical of the government, local media reported.

"It was extremely inappropriate," Abe told a session of a House of Representatives committee. "I apologize for (the remarks) that may have hurt the feelings of people in Okinawa Prefecture," Kyodo News cited Abe as saying.

At the first meeting of a study group set up by young lawmakers of the LDP who are close to Abe on June 25, several members said the government should punish media companies critical of its policies by depleting their advertising revenue through pressure on their sponsors.

Best-selling novelist Naoki Hyakuta, a close friend of Abe's, was invited to the session as the featured speaker, and said the two Okinawa papers have been "taken over by left-wingers" and should be "destroyed."

Those remarks have triggered strong criticism from both opposition parties and Okinawa people. Regarding the issue, Abe said Friday that "Those remarks were very regrettable and thoughtless," and those young lawmakers "significantly damage people's trust and are not acceptable."

On Thursday, the editors in chief of the two Okinawa papers, The Ryukyu Shimpo and The Okinawa Times, held press conferences in Tokyo, saying they are reflecting major opinions in the prefecture critical of the government's handling of the issue. Endi