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Abe says he 'respects' Kyuma's decision to quit

TOKYO, Japan - Embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to reporters at his official residence on July 3 after he accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma just weeks before the House of Councillors election and quickly named Yuriko Koide, his national security adviser, to the job. Abe says he ''respect(s)'' Kyuma's decision to quit. Kyuma was forced to resign following intense protests from opposition parties and atomic-bomb victims who were angered by his comments on the U.S. atomic bombing in Nagasaki in World War II. ''I understand the bombing brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped,'' he told a gathering on June 30. (Kyodo)