Mr. Abe is about to make a historic visit to Pearl Harbor.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor with President Barack Obama later this month.

"I will visit Pearl Harbor with President Obama," Mr. Abe told reporters at the prime minister's office on December 5.

According to Reuters, the Japanese leader will travel to Hawaii from December 26-27 and visit Pearl Harbor, the site of a surprise air attack by the Japanese military on the US naval base in 1941, opening World War II in the Pacific.

Mr. Abe said the purpose of the visit was "to commemorate the victims" of the historic attack, and considered it "an opportunity to express my views on the meaning of reconciliation between Japan and the United States."

The trip was decided on the occasion of Mr. Obama's visit to Hiroshima in May when attending the G7 Summit held in Ise-Shima, Nagoya, Japan. The visit to Pearl Harbor is also the last meeting between Prime Minister Abe and President Obama before Mr. Obama leaves office next January.

President Obama (left) and Prime Minister Abe during Obama's visit to Japan in May. Photo: Getty

The visit to Hawaii comes as President-elect Donald Trump has said he will review US relations with allies including Japan.

Pearl Harbor is the most famous historical site in the Hawaiian Islands, United States. This deep-water seaport is located west of Honolulu on the island of O'ahu, in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, a group of Japanese fighter planes suddenly bombed American warships at Pearl Harbor. This was an important turning point in World War II, leading to the US officially entering the war.

In August, the Japanese prime minister's wife, Akie Abe, visited and laid flowers at the USS Arizona memorial on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, during a two-hour visit to Pearl Harbor.

The Obama administration was not happy with the Abe-Trump meeting.

The Obama administration was reportedly unhappy with last month's meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President-elect Donald Trump in New York.

According to Zing.vn