Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government said yesterday it did not believe there was proof Japan forced women into World War II brothels, reiterating remarks that caused an uproar earlier this month.
"The government did not find evidence showing forced recruitment by Japanese military authorities or bureaucrats," Abe's Cabinet said in a policy statement in parliament responding to a question by an opposition lawmaker.
It said, however, that the Cabinet would not change a landmark 1993 apology that the Japanese government issued to former sex slaves.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The 1993 apology "was not endorsed by the then Cabinet of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa but successive Japanese Cabinets have inherited it," the statement said.
Abe, known for his conservative views on history, caused outrage earlier this month when he said there was no evidence that so-called "comfort women" were forced into sexual slavery "in the strict sense of coercion."
He later elaborated, saying he was talking about physical coercion, such as kidnappings of women by Japanese soldiers to put them into brothels.
After an uproar, Abe has said repeatedly that he stands "sincerely" by the 1993 apology.
Abe's remarks have provoked a furor in Asian countries that were invaded by Japan and in the US, where the US Congress is considering a bill that would demand Japan make an outright apology to comfort women.
South Korean lawmaker Yoo Ki-hong yesterday visited Tokyo to demand a "forward-looking settlement" to the comfort women row.
"The grudge and hatred of about 200,000 comfort women mobilized from Korea, China, the Philippines, Australia, etcetera, are being revived now," Yoo said in a statement he handed to Japanese government officials.
"We strongly ask the prime minister to pay attention to and sincerely listen to the voice of the world," said the statement by Yoo, a member of South Korea's ruling Uri party.
"Abe, as the prime minister of Japan, should come face to face with the victims of sex slavery and see the historical truth," the statement said.
Historians say up to 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea but also from Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and China, were forced to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels.
The 1993 statement, issued by the top government spokesman at the time, apologized to comfort women and said the Imperial Army was involved "directly or indirectly" in their recruitment and in the management of the brothels.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday rebutted the Japanese government's claims that "no hard evidence" exists proving that the Japanese military forced scores of women into prostitution during World War II.
"Japan should face its history more squarely," said ministry spokesman David Wang (
"To dismiss the phenomenon because of a lack of evidence in a few, single cases is to ignore a historical happening that was broad and pervasive," Wang said.
The Japanese government should also offer material retribution, or closure, to those who suffered under Japan's practice of sex slavery in World War II, or their families.
"They deserve justice," he said, referring to the victims and their families.
Additional reporting by Max Hirsch
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