Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned Tuesday in the wake of criticism generated by his remarks concerning the WWII atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japanese media reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accepted Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma’s resignation and appointed Yuriko Koike, special national security adviser, as his successor.

Jiji Press reported Koike’s appointment would be confirmed officially Wednesday afternoon.

Kyuma’s “unforgivable” gaffe occurred this weekend, when during a lecture at Reitaku University in Kashiwa, Chiba, he apparently expressed approval of the US having dropped two atomic bombs over Japan in 1945.

“I now have come to accept in my mind that in order to end the war, it could not be helped that an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and that countless numbers of people suffered great tragedy,” Kyumi said on June 30, during the lecture.

Kyumi commented that the double attack had brought about an early end to the war, therefore the bombings were “shou ga nai” or “something that we just have to accept.”

The politician’s comments were widely condemned by A-bomb survivors, who interpreted his words as justification of an attack that killed more than 210,000 people. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue himself handed a letter of protest to Kyuma in his Tokyo office.

Kyumi has apologized repeatedly for his remarks. During a press conference Tuesday, upon announcing his resignation, Kyumi said: “As it seems to be difficult to gain public understanding (about the point I was making), I told the premier I need to put my foot down regarding the issue.”

He again insisted his choice of words, “shou ga nai,” was careless but that he strongly believed the atomic bombings should never have happened.