For more news visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com or Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision

Former Australian prisoners of war have received a formal apology from the Japanese foreign minister. The group of prisoners were captured by Japanese Army during World War Two, and many were forced to work as laborers at Japanese companies.

On Thursday, former Australian prisoners of war said they were happy to receive a formal apology by Japan's foreign minister.

At a meeting with Japanese parliamentarians, former Australian prisoners of war retold the story of their capture and treatment at the hands of the Japanese military during World War Two.

Many of the prisoners said they were sent back to Japan to work as forced laborers at Japanese companies.

The group said they received a formal apology from Foreign Minister Seijiro Maehara in an earlier meeting.

[Norman Anderton, Former Prisoner of War]:
"I think all that we would have asked for has been completed. For the Foreign Minister today making that formal apology and expressing great remorse for what happened was a wonderful experience for us."

The formal apology was made individually in a meeting that was closed to media.

Japanese members of parliament said the time had come to move on and look to resolving the many other issues from its war history, especially with Asian nations.

[Yukihisa Fujita, Upper House Parliament Member]:
"There are plenty of other unresolved issues such as the forced labor issue, comfort women issues, B and C class war criminal issue -- these need to be resolved for the future to move forward."

Memories of World War Two continue to trouble ties with China and other Asian countries the Japanese Imperial Army invaded, occupied or colonized before and during World War Two.