President Obama arrived in Japan insisting that he wouldn’t apologize for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, but found himself apologizing instead Wednesday for the murder of a Japanese woman, allegedly by an ex-Marine in Okinawa.
Hours after landing in Japan, Mr. Obama was confronted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe privately — and then again publicly — over the rape and slaying of the 20-year-old woman, which has prompted massive street demonstrations and raised long-running tensions over the presence of U.S. military bases on Okinawa.
“I feel profound resentment against this self-centered and absolutely despicable crime,” Mr. Abe told reporters, adding that he lodged a protest with Mr. Obama during their private meeting. “This case has shocked not only Okinawa, but also deeply shocked [all of] Japan. I conveyed to the president that such feelings of Japanese people should be sincerely taken to heart.”
The Japanese premier also said he told Mr. Obama “to prevent a recurrence, and vigorously and strictly address the situation.” He said the case could prevent progress on the contentious issue of relocating a U.S. Marine Corps air station on Okinawa.
Mr. Obama offered the Japanese “my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets” for the murder.
“The United States is appalled by any violent crime that may have occurred or been carried out by any U.S. personnel or U.S. contractors,” the president said. “We consider it inexcusable. And the United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation to ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system.”
The Japanese premier said he has no plans to visit Pearl Harbor on the anniversary in December of the Japanese sneak attack on the U.S. Navy base in 1941 that killed more than 2,400 U.S. service members. He noted that he visited the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington last year, “where I laid a wreath to pray for the souls of all the war dead.”
There were strong indications that Mr. Obama agreed in advance to stand for the public dressing down by his Japanese hosts. The White House added the meeting with Mr. Abe just before the president’s arrival from Vietnam, and U.S. military officials including Defense Secretary Ashton Carter already had offered apologies to the Japanese government after the arrest last week of 32-year-old Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a U.S. civilian employee at an American air base on Okinawa.
The Okinawan bases have long been an irritant in the bilateral relationship, with Tokyo and the local government also feuding over whether to keep or move the huge U.S. military presence, which includes more than a dozen U.S. military sites.
During a brief news conference with the two leaders, a Japanese reporter raised the notorious 1995 case in which three U.S. service members were convicted of raping and beating a 12-year-old Okinawa girl.
“We do not see the decreasing number of crimes involving the U.S. people, and it is quite a regrettable trend,” the reporter told Mr. Abe and Mr. Obama. The journalist asked whether Japan would ask the U.S. to revise its “status of forces agreement,” or SOFA, which gives U.S. service members limited exemption from local laws.
Mr. Abe didn’t say he wants to renegotiate the agreement, saying only that he will “thoroughly implement measures to prevent crimes, and ensure safety and peace of mind among the people in Okinawa.”
Mr. Obama said the SOFA “does not in any way prevent the full prosecution and the need for justice under the Japanese legal system.”
“The Japanese people should know how deeply moved we are by what has happened and our intention to make sure that we’re working with the Japanese government to not only prosecute this crime, but to prevent crimes like this from happening again,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Abe hasn’t indicated that he is reversing his policy of allowing the air station to be moved, but a specialist on Asia said his rhetoric about the murder could complicate the situation.
“By hyping this tragic event, it will inflame the Okinawan resistance and the Okinawan protesters, making it more difficult for Abe to fulfill his objective of having the Henoko facility built,” said Bruce Klingner, an analyst on northeast Asia at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “It’s counterproductive not only to U.S. interests but also to Prime Minister Abe’s policy.”
The episode is threatening to overshadow Mr. Obama’s historic trip on Friday to Hiroshima, where he’ll become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site where U.S. forces dropped the first nuclear bomb used in wartime, in August 1945. The bombing killed an estimated 140,000 people.
Mr. Obama has said he won’t apologize for the bombing. But Mr. Abe, who will accompany the president to Hiroshima, said their visit will “express the feelings of sincere sorrow and pray for the repose of the souls” of those killed in the bombing.
“In Hiroshima, numerous citizens sacrificed their lives, and even now there are those of us suffering because of the atomic bombing,” Mr. Abe said. “And what those Japanese people suffering from the atomic bomb [desire] is never to repeat such tragedy in the world.”
Mr. Obama said their visit “will honor all those who were lost in World War II and reaffirm our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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