For the first time in seven years... German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made an official visit to Japan.
On her first day there... she emphasized Japan's needs to face up to its wartime past... just as Germany did after World War Two.
Kim Ji-yeon reports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed Germany's reconciliatory efforts after World War Two on the first day of her two-day visit to Japan.
At a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday... Merkel said Germany's re-acceptance by its European neighbors following the war,... was possible because it had squarely faced its dark past.
Merkel added that her country also made sure that the Nazi's horrendous acts would never be overlooked by history -- something she regards as a precondition to reconciliation.


"Reconciliation always takes two. We had the experience that France for example was willing to approach Germany after World War Two. The European Union we have today is in fact the product of such a reconciliation process because after centuries of wars, the Europeans said 'we want to be united.' It is our luck that we are united which led to a stable peace order."

Her remarks come at a time when Japan has been receiving strong criticism from Korea and China... over inadequate acknowledgement of its wartime atrocities.
Most recently, Tokyo faced harsh backlash after it attempted to review past apologies that were made over the forced sexual enslavement of Asian women during World War Two, including the landmark 1993 Murayama Statement.
Also, Japanese school textbooks have long been accused of whitewashing the country's past aggressions in Asia.
As Prime Minister Abe is set to issue his own statement on the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two in August,... but there's speculation that he will try to water down Japan's wartime atrocities.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.