Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama meets Korean survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of two Japanese cities during the World War II, in Hapcheon, Wednesday. Yonhap



Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama paid tribute Wednesday to the Koreans killed by the U.S. atomic bombings of two Japanese cities in 1945 and apologized for his country's failure to compensate surviving victims and their families.

The center-left leader from 2009-2010 became the first Japanese statesman to visit a memorial house in Hapcheon, 350 kilometers south of Seoul, for the Korean victims of the atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended World War II.

Historians say about 40,000 Koreans died in the inferno and some 30,000 survivors suffered from aftereffects.

"As a man who served as Japan's prime minister, I believe the Japanese government should provide proper compensation and assistance," Hatoyama said during a meeting with about 30 victims. "I deeply apologize for that."

He knelt and held the hands of each of the elderly victims as he vowed his best efforts to ensure they receive due compensation. He bowed in prayer before a memorial tower inside the facility.

Speaking to reporters later, he expressed regret that he could not implement his plans to help the Korean victims because his term ended too early.

About 2,000 Korean victims of the nuclear blasts live in South Korea, including 600 residing in Hapcheon.

The previous day, Hatoyama received an honorary doctorate from Pusan National University in the southern city of Busan.

Also on Tuesday, he paid respects at the tomb of Lee Soo-hyun, a Korean hero who died trying to rescue a drunk Japanese man who had fallen onto the subway tracks in Tokyo in 2001. (Yonhap)