President Barack Obama is going to visit Pearl Harbor with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the end of the month as an act of reconciliation. The announcement was made today, only two days before the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This week also marks 6 months since Obama visited the memorial at Hiroshima for the victims of the U.S. atomic bombing.
The two leaders have been working to restore the relationship between the U.S. and Japan. The White House confirmed the meet-up stating, “the visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values.”
Abe apparently plans to pray for the war dead at the naval base as well as hold a final summit meeting with Obama when he visits Hawaii on December 26 and 27. He told the press, “This will be a visit to console the souls of the victims. I would like to show to the world the resolve that horrors of war should never be repeated.”
This will be the first time a leader from Japan has visited the site of the infamous attack since the end of World War II.
