John Kerry Won't Say Sorry for Hiroshima

One thing John Kerry won't do while visiting Hiroshima: say he's sorry. On Monday, the Secretary of State plans to visit a memorial and museum commemorating victims of the atomic bombing that left more than 100,000 dead in 1945—but a senior US official says there will be no apology for the attack, the Wall Street Journal reports. "If you are asking whether the secretary of state came to apologize, the answer is 'no,'" the official tells reporters, per Reuters. "If you are asking whether the secretary and I think all Americans and all Japanese are filled with sorrow at the tragedies that befell so many of our countrymen, the answer is yes."

The Japanese haven't asked for an apology, adds the official, who says both sides want visits to the memorial and museum to be "forward looking." Some in Japan have said the US owes them an apology, but many Americans say that's unfair considering the circumstances in World War II. Kerry will be there to meet with fellow foreign ministers from the other Group of Seven nations—Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Britain. Japan started the meeting on Sunday by calling for the end of all nuclear weapons, the Guardian reports. (More Hiroshima stories.)