Submitted by admin on Mon, 2007-04-02 08:00. ::
Japan's foreign minister reassured his South Korean counterpart that Tokyo stands by a 1993 apology over sexual slavery in its World War II military brothels, officials from both sides said, potentially defusing an escalating political row.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso's comments during fence-mending talks Saturday with Song Min-soon were seen as meeting the minimum demands set by South Korea to ease tensions over the issue.
The dispute began when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in early March that there was no evidence that women were coerced into working at World War II brothels for Japanese troops, apparently backtracking from Tokyo's 1993 apology for having forced women into sexual slavery.
Abe, faced with mounting international criticism, later said he backed the 1993 apology by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, although he stopped short of clearly acknowledging Tokyo's coercion of women during the war.
During Saturday's talks on the South Korean resort island of Jeju, Aso explained that Abe stood by Kono's statement of apology and sympathy for the former sex slaves, said Mitsuo Sakaba, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Song "appreciated" the clarification, but urged Japanese political leaders to be "careful not to create any doubt about the Japanese position on this particular matter," Sakaba said.
Song also expressed strong regret "over the wrong words and deeds by responsible Japanese leaders," South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said.
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