She implicitly spoke ill of Japan from the first day of her visit. When meeting Abe she referred to the efforts made by Japan to redeem the past after the war, metaphorically criticizing Japan. When meeting the representative of an opposition party, she gave an official advice to him that Japan should face up to the past and, to do so, it had better properly settle the issue of sexual slavery for the Imperial Japanese Army.

She also took part in lectures sponsored by Japanese media where she said Germany could have improved its relations with neighboring countries as it took proper stand on history.

Rodong Sinmun Friday says in a commentary in this regard:

Japan deserves inhospitality by the guest.

Both Germany and Japan are war criminal states responsible for the Second World War and Pacific War and they are also defeated states which signed surrender documents after the wars.

However, after the wars the two countries have been quite different in their attitude toward their wrong past.

Germany has made steady efforts to honestly apologize for its past crimes and settle them. It is respected by European countries and plays a key role in regional issues.

But Japan has covered up and justified its past crimes, evading their settlement. The relations between Japan and its surrounding countries remain cold and are so complicated. It is jeered and derided not only by countries around it but by those elsewhere in the world.

If Japan fails to properly redeem its past crimes, it would never be a full-fledged member of the international community but be subject to repugnance, insult and isolation.