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TOKYO: Opposition lawmakers urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday to acknowledge that the army forced women into sexual slavery during World War II, as officials attempted to calm an international furor over his recent denials.
Abe triggered a barrage of criticism across Asia by saying last week there was no proof the women were coerced into prostitution. He said on Monday that Japan will not apologize again for the so-called "comfort stations" for Japanese soldiers.
"Japan must have the courage to face up to the truth ... that Japan caused much suffering as victimizers," Yukio Hatoyama, head of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told a meeting of about a dozen opposition lawmakers and 100 citizens in Tokyo.
"Abe is showing his true colors ... and leading Japan in a dangerous direction," Hatoyama said, calling with other lawmakers for a clear acknowledgment and apology for the past use of sex slaves.
"We must resolve this issue for the sake of upholding peace and human rights in Asia," said Haruko Yoshikawa, a lawmaker for the Japanese Communist Party.
Organizers said right-wing groups had threatened violence against participants in Wednesday's meeting, and reporters were told not to use cameras or identify any members of the general public who attended.
Activists and academics have complained of harassment from right-wing groups for merely suggesting that Japan should apologize for atrocities it committed during the World War II era, which remains a divisive issue.
Earlier Wednesday, the government's top spokesman, under intense fire from China and South Korea, reiterated that Tokyo still honors an earlier apology over the treatment of women forced to work in brothels.
"The prime minister's recent remarks are not meant to change this government's position," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, referring to the 1993 apology made by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono that acknowledged government involvement in the brothels and that some women were coerced into sexual service.
"The government continues to support the Kono statement," Shiozaki said.
Historians say thousands of women — as many as 200,000 by some accounts — mostly from Korea, China, Southeast Asia and Japan worked in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s and '40s.
Defense documents uncovered by a Japanese journalist in 1992 showed that the military had a direct role in running the brothels, which the government had previously denied. Victims, witnesses and former soldiers have said women and girls were kidnapped to serve as prostitutes.
Abe's comments have incensed critics in China, North and South Korea, and the Philippines who have demanded Japan acknowledge its responsibility.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Tuesday called the use of sex slaves "one of the serious crimes committed by Japanese militarists during the second World War," and urged Tokyo to "stand up to this part of history, take responsibility and seriously view and properly handle this issue."
North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called the military brothels "the worst flesh traffic in the 20th century."
"No matter how desperately the Japanese authorities may try to whitewash the crime-woven past of Japan and cover up the crimes related to the 'comfort women' ... they are historical facts that Japan can neither sidestep nor deny," it said in a statement.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry has expressed "strong regret" over Abe's remarks, accusing Tokyo of attempting to gloss over its wartime past.
Shiozaki downplayed criticism that Japan was reneging on its past apology.
"I think we should not continue these discussions in an unconstructive manner for much longer," Shiozaki said. "Japan's stance is clear."
He also reiterated earlier comments by Abe that Japan would not comply with a resolution submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives demanding a formal acknowledgment and apology from the Japanese government for the brothels. Japan's 1993 apology was not approved by Parliament.
"The U.S. resolution is not based on objective facts and does not consider the responses that we have taken so far. Therefore, we will not offer a fresh apology," Shiozaki said.
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