Tomiichi Murayama
Etō was known for his revisionist views, and his negation of the existence of Japanese war crimes. He resigned from his post as minister in 1995 following comments in which he stated that Japan "did some good things" when it governed Korea, including building railroads, roads and schools. Etō's comments threatened to cancel an important summit between South Korea's then President Kim Young-sam, whose government objected to Etō's comments, and then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, a socialist who led Japan's coalition government, before Etō's resignation.