Submitted by admin on Tue, 2007-03-27 08:00. ::
TOKYO Japan's nationalist prime minister on Monday offered his clearest apology yet to women who suffered in the country's World War II military brothels, but he did not bow to international pressure to acknowledge that Tokyo forced thousands into sexual slavery.
Shinzo Abe's apology came three weeks after he set off a furor by saying there is no evidence showing the women were coerced, backtracking from a previous government admission that the Japanese military forced women to work at brothels for its troops.
"I express my sympathy toward the 'comfort women' and apologize for the situation they found themselves in," Abe told a parliamentary committee, using the euphemism for sex slaves that is used by Japanese politicians. "I apologize here and now as prime minister."
Historians say as many as 200,000 Asian women, mostly from Korea and China, worked in Japan's military-run brothels. Victims say they were forced to work at the brothels by the Japanese military and were held against their will.
But right-wing Japanese politicians, who make up the bulk of Abe's support base, have in recent weeks renewed efforts pushing for an official rollback on the landmark apology for sex slavery offered by a senior government official in 1993.
Conservative governing party lawmakers contend the women were professional prostitutes and were paid for their services. They also maintain Japanese military authorities were not directly responsible for establishing or running brothels.
Abe's earlier denial of coercion drew intense criticism from China and South Korea, which accuse Japan of failing to fully atone for wartime invasions and atrocities. Neither had any immediate reaction to his comments Monday.
The issue also has stirred debate in the United States, where a House committee is considering a nonbinding resolution calling on Japan to fully acknowledge wrongdoing during the war and to make an unambiguous apology.
"We certainly want to see the Japanese continue to address this and to deal with it in a forthright and responsible manner that acknowledges the gravity of the crimes that were committed," Casey said.
Abe on Monday rebuffed criticism in American media for his efforts to champion the cause of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago while refusing to admit Japan's own past kidnappings.
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