Abe mulls to change wording of Murayama Statement

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would change wording on wartime aggression in the 1995 Murayama Statement in his new statement, local media cited top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga as reporting early on Saturday.

"If it were the same, there would be no need to release a new statement," Suga, who is also the chief cabinet secretary, said in a TV program Friday, referring to the so-called Abe Statement that would be issued this year which marks the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender in WWII.

The 1995 statement issued by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama offers apologies for Japan's wartime aggression in Asia.

Suga said the new statement will be a "future-oriented" one and added "We are going to inherit the same stance (as past Cabinets) as a whole, including apologies," according to Japan's Kyodo News.

Abe has reiterated many times since the beginning of 2015 that he will pledge Japan's greater contribution to regional and global peace when he issues a statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in August.