TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe on Sunday expressed unfeigned apology to "comfort women" who were
forced by Japan's then military government into sex slavery during World War II.
In a TV program of NHK earlier in the day, Abe also
reiterated that his government will not change the policy of honoring the Kono
statement.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Ryutaro
Hashimoto have both sent letters of apology to past "comfort women," and he
shares the same mind and want to sincerely apologize to those "comfort women"
who have suffered mentally and physically, Abe was quoted as saying by Kyodo
News.
The prime minister's remarks were a big conversion
from what he said on Thursday, when he hinted a reinvestigation of the facts
unearthed in 1993 by the previous official probe which gave birth to the Kono
statement in the same year.
Analysts warned that if put into action, the
reinvestigation could lead to review of Japan's official stand on the wartime
sex slavery issue and is destined to arouse further criticism from Asian
countries which suffered from Japan's past militarism.
Abe and Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa
Shiozaki reiterated in recent days that the Japanese government will continue to
honor the Kono statement, which was issued by Japan's then Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yohei Kono, who officially acknowledged and apologized for Japan's
forced recruitment of women from other Asian countries into sex slaves for its
soldiers during World War II.
TOKYO, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe reiterated on Wednesday that his government will continue to honor a 1993
apology for wartime sex slavery.
At a press conference where the prime minister was
asked about what in Japan are known as "comfort women" - the Asian woman forced
to work in brothels for the Japanese army during World War II - he complained
that his recent remarks on the matter had not been reported correctly, Kyodo
News said on Thursday.
What he meant was there is no evidence to prove
Japan's wartime government was behind the coercion of woman into sex slavery,
the prime minister told reporters.
PYONGYANG, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday accused Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
of denying Japan's wartime forced sex slavery, urging it to atone for the crimes
it committed.
"They are historical facts that Japan can neither
sidestep nor deny," the official Korean Central News Agency quoted a Foreign
Ministry statement as saying.
The statement came after Abe said last week that
nothing can prove that the so-called "comfort women" were forced into sex
slavery during World War II.
TOKYO, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe said Monday that Japan would not offer any new apology over the wartime sex
slavery issue.
"We will not apologize even if there's a resolution,"
Abe was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency in response to an opposition
lawmaker's question in the upper house budget committee, referring to U.S.
efforts to seek Japan's apology for forcing about 200,000 women from invaded
countries to provide sex services to its army in World War II.
The premier also reiterated that Japan will abide by
a 1993 statement made by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono that
acknowledged and apologized for the sex slavery history.
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