South Korean lawmakers are seeking to invite a former Japanese prime minister known for his apology to victims of Japan’s past aggressions to speak about ways to move the two countries’ relations forward, a parliamentary official said Wednesday.

Tomiichi Murayama, the then Japanese prime minister, issued a statement in 1995 acknowledging and apologizing for the suffering his country inflicted on neighboring Asian nations, including Korea, through its aggressions in the early 20th century.

Amid signs of growing nationalism in Japan, calls have grown in South Korea for Tokyo to honor the so-called Murayama statement as well as a similar apology issued by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in 1993. (Yonhap News)