B) They said, "We are late" (to indirect speech)​

➟ They said that they were late.

ʰᵒᵖᵉ ⁱᵗ ʰᵉˡᵖˢ

# ꧁❣ RainbowSalt2²2² ࿐

the answer to "what does the narrator realize by the end of the story" is b.

the answer is b) ''i hereby express my profound remorse together with my sincere mourning ''.

the reason being that although all of the options provided are valid the main idea of the speech by prime minister junichiro koizumi is to express his and japan's current antiwar pledge.

he states that 59 years had passed since the war, he acknowledges the 3 million japanese that lost their lives during the war and those countries who were affected by their decisions, as well as the way japan intends to develop relationships across the globe however all of this can be summarize to how japan as a whole regrets the war and its consecuences.

hope this ! i found the article on let me know if i'm using the wrong one.