TOKYO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Yohei Kono, speaker of Japan's House of Representatives, said Thursday that he hoped the government would stick to a 1993 statement he made as Chief Cabinet Secretary over wartime sex slavery.

    Kono told reporters that when in 1993 he officially acknowledged and apologized the fact that Japan forced women from other Asian countries into its military brothels during World War II, he adhered to his belief.

    He hoped the Japanese government will continue honoring the statement, according to Kyodo News.

    On Wednesday, some lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided to reinvestigate the so-called "comfort women" issue,in a bid to push for the government to modify its stance on the controversy.

    The Japanese government itself would not reinvestigate the issue, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Tuesday.

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier this week on TV that it is necessary to maintain an apologetic feeling toward wartime "comfort women" who have endured severe mental suffering.

    Abe has also reiterated that he would stand by the "Kono statement" after he made a controversial remark earlier this month saying that there was no evidence to prove that the coercion of Japan's wartime government was behind sex slavery.