Former Japanese PM kneels before S. Korean monument, urging Abe to apologize

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should apologize for wartime aggressions "from the heart," his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday in Seoul while visiting the site of a colony-era prison where he knelt before a memorial monument.

"Through its colonial rule and aggression, Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to Asian nations," Hatoyama said. "The Abe statement must carry remorse and repentance" to South Korea and China.

While visiting the Seodaemun Prison History Hall, Hatoyama knelt to pay his respects to Korean independence fighters killed during Japanese colonial rule and offered an apology over numerous Korean patriots' deaths caused by torture in Japanese prisons.

The former Japanese leader from 2009 to 2010 urged Abe to honor the landmark Murayama Statement from 1995 as Abe's stance on the speech to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II remains dubious.

"In the hope that no such mistake is made in the future, I regard, in a spirit of humility, these irrefutable facts of history, and express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology," Hatoyama said.

As the "comfort women" issue has not been resolved, Hatoyama called for new measures by the Japanese government to address the human rights issue.

He also urged China, Japan and South Korea to hold trilateral summit talks to improve their relations.

Hatoyama is on a trip to attend the International Conference for Peace in East Asia, which marks the 70th anniversary of South Korea's liberation from colonial occupation in August 1945. Endi