No Apology from Japan Over Sex Slaves

No political correction for Japan. The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said Monday that his country will not offer another apology for forcing women to act as sex slaves during World War II.

He said he is standing by a 1993 government apology that accepted that the military had established and ran brothels during the war and by force.

Abe insists there will not be another apology from the government, even if the U.S. congress passed a recently proposed resolution asking Japan to formally "acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility". Abe told a parliamentary panel that the proposed resolution is error-ridden and if it is passed, Japan will not apologize. Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono said in a statement at the time the government offered ``its sincere apologies and remorse.'' Abe said Kono's statement on the so-called ``comfort women'' still stands. He didn't elaborate further. Kono's apology was never officially adopted by parliament, and a group of about 120 members of the Liberal Democratic Party want the government to overturn the 1993 apology.

The controversy arose a week ago when Abe remarked that there was no evidence to support that there was coercion involved in forcing women to become sex slaves.

The remarks led to South Korea filing official protests with the Japanese foreign ministry. South Korea said the denial is regrettable and "cast doubt on the sincerity of the earlier apology".

A non-binding resolution has been introduced by Democratic Representative, Michael Honda, of California, urging the Japanese government to apologize and acknowledge the tragedy. The resolutions purpose is to offer comforts to the women who suffered at the hands of the Imperial Army during the World War.

Honda, a US Representative of Japanese origin, said a group of conservatives in Japan appear to be working to correct the government's earlier admission of its role in forcing women to become sex slaves.

Historical reports show some 200,000 women of Asian origin had served the Japanese military throughout the Asian region during the war. And there are allegations these women were kidnapped and forced into working in brothels catering to the soldiers.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the resolution lacks ``objective facts.'' `The resolution is not based on objective facts,'' said Abe in a meeting in Tokyo today.

Lee Yong Soo, a former comfort woman gave testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee last month. She said, ``The Japanese government is saying there was no coercion but as a living victim I would like to say that this was a coerced experience,''

Lee, a Korean woman aged 78, claims she was forced into sexual slavery at the age of 14.