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| Japan minister quits over gaffe | Japan minister quits over gaffe |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Japan's Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma has resigned amid a row over remarks he made about the US atom bomb attacks on Japan during World War II. | Japan's Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma has resigned amid a row over remarks he made about the US atom bomb attacks on Japan during World War II. |
| He said at the weekend that the bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were "something that couldn't be helped". | He said at the weekend that the bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were "something that couldn't be helped". |
| He later apologised for the comments, which angered bomb survivors and sparked calls for his dismissal from opposition politicians. | He later apologised for the comments, which angered bomb survivors and sparked calls for his dismissal from opposition politicians. |
| Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday rebuked Mr Kyuma. | Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday rebuked Mr Kyuma. |
| "Japan is the only country that suffered an atomic bomb. We need to always consider and stand in the position of the survivors," said Mr Abe. | |
| Mr Abe's opinion poll ratings have fallen as his party prepares for national elections for the upper house at the end of July. | |
| More than 360,000 people died as the result of the two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, in the dying stages of World War II. |