Shinzo Abe to be first Japanese PM to visit Pearl Harbor

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is to visit Pearl Harbor, becoming the first leader of his country to go to the US naval base in Hawaii.

Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the base in 1941, killing 2,300 US servicemen and propelling the US into World War Two.

Mr Abe will visit on 27 Dec. with US President Barack Obama.

The announcement, two days before the 75th anniversary of the attack, follows a visit by Mr Obama to Hiroshima.

He became the first US president to visit the Japanese city, where about 150,000 people are believed to have been killed in 1945 by a US atomic bomb.

Mr Abe said in a statement: "We must never repeat the tragedy of the war. I would like to send this commitment. At the same time, I would like to send a message of reconciliation between Japan and the US."