Pre-emptive Strike: Japan Apologizes for WWII Before Obama Can

We figure Obama's TelePrompter was being loaded with the text calling on Americans to hang their heads in collective shame for daring to win World War II. But those sneaky Japanese beat him to the punch and apologized for their unsavory behavior before and during the war.

Asia paused on Sunday to remember Japan's surrender to the Allied forces ending World War II 65 years ago.

The Japanese prime minister apologized for wreaking suffering on the region, and the South Korean president said Tokyo's remorse was a step in the right direction.

From Nanjing, China - the site of a 1937 massacre by Japanese troops - to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which has drawn outrage from Asia for honoring Class A war criminals, people prayed for the millions who died in war and expressed hopes for peace.

The reckoning with history has taken special meaning this year as it comes amid a global effort to realize a world without nuclear weapons, a resolve backed by President Barack Obama. But there were reminders of lingering tensions.

In Seoul, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, dressed in traditional robes, led a ceremony celebrating the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule with the Aug. 15 surrender. He also urged North Korea to abandon military provocations and make a "courageous change" toward peace.

In Tokyo, at a ceremony for the war dead, Prime Minister Naoto Kan reiterated his apology to South Korea for wartime atrocities, and this time offered his regret to all of Asia.

Last week, Kan offered "deep remorse" in an apology issued ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Japanese annexation of the Korean peninsula on Aug. 29, 1910.

"We caused great damage and suffering to many nations during the war, especially to the people of Asia," Kan said Sunday before a crowd of about 6,000, including Emperor Akihito. "We feel a deep regret, and we offer our sincere feelings of condolence to those who suffered and their families."