AKIPRESS.COM - Emperor Naruhito will visit Mongolia to commemorate Japanese wartime detainees who died there under harsh conditions, The Asahi Shimbun reported.

“I will pay respect to those who died in a land far from home against their will and reflect on their hardships,” Naruhito, who will be the first emperor to visit the East Asian country, told a news conference at the Imperial Palace on July 2.

During a visit as state guests on July 6-13, Naruhito and Empress Masako will lay flowers on a memorial monument for Japanese detainees in Ulaanbaatar on July 8.

Of Japanese nationals detained by the Soviet Union after World War II, about 14,000 were transported to Mongolia. They were forced to engage in construction and other hard labor, and about 1,700 died of malnutrition and other causes.

“I expect that exchanges will become more active, particularly among younger generations, and that they will serve as a bridge between the two countries, further deepening their friendship and goodwill,” Naruhito said.

The imperial couple have been invited by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.

Naruhito will be traveling to Mongolia for the second time.

His first visit as crown prince in 2007 was on the 35th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.