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TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday that Japan would not apologise for forcing women to act as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers in World War II even if a United States House of Representatives resolution demanding an apology is adopted.
Abe said he stood by a 1993 Japanese Government apology that acknowledged that the military played a role in setting up and managing wartime brothels and that coercion was used. "I have to say that even if the resolution passes, that doesn't mean we will apologise," Abe told a parliamentary panel, reiterating the Government stance that the US resolution contains factual errors.
Last week, Abe appeared to question the degree to which physical coercion was involved in recruiting the women for the brothels. "There is no evidence to back up that there was coercion as defined initially," he said, apparently referring to accusations that the Imperial Army had kidnapped women and put them in brothels to serve soldiers. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Abe's denial of coercion was regrettable and cast doubt on the sincerity of Japan's past apology.
- REUTERS
