Yohei Kono, the former Speaker of Japan's House of Representatives who issued a heartfelt apology regarding the Japanese military's comfort women issue, has passed away at the age of 89.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on June 10, citing sources, that Kono died on June 8. He was the second son of former Agriculture Minister Ichiro Kono.
Kono graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1967, serving 14 consecutive terms. In 1976, he left the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to criticize the party's corruption amid the Lockheed scandal and later formed the New Liberal Club. He returned to the LDP in 1986 after the New Liberal Club was dissolved, and he held various positions, including Minister of Science and Technology in the Nakasone Cabinet in 1985.
Kono gained widespread recognition for the Kono Statement issued during his tenure as Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Miyazawa Cabinet in 1993. On August 4 of that year, he expressed, "I would like to express my sincere apologies and remorse" regarding the comfort women issue.
Kono became the LDP president just before the party lost power in July 1993. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in the Murayama Cabinet, which included the LDP, Social Democratic Party, and New Party Sakigake. However, he did not become Prime Minister after he withdrew from the LDP presidential election in 1995, marking him as the first LDP president not to ascend to the premiership.
In November 2003, Kono was appointed Speaker of the House of Representatives, serving for a total of 2,029 days. He announced in September 2008 that he would not run in the next House of Representatives election. After retiring from politics, he focused on strengthening Japan-China relations.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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