Japan PM apology on sex slaves
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has apologised in parliament for
the country's use of women as sex slaves during World War II.
The apology comes after Mr Abe was criticised by Asian neighbours for
previous comments casting doubt on whether the women were coerced.
Mr Abe told parliament: "I apologise here and now as prime minister."
This appears to be part of a concerted bid to reduce the fall-out of
earlier comments, a BBC correspondent says.
Mr Abe said, during a debate in parliament's upper house, that he
stood by an official 1993 statement in which Japan acknowledged the
imperial army set up and ran brothels for its troops during the war.
"As I frequently say, I feel sympathy for the people who underwent
hardships, and I apologise for the fact that they were placed in this
situation at the time," he said.
His statement has gone a little further than similar attempts to
clarify his position two weeks ago, but is unlikely to satisfy all
his critics abroad, the BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says.
The row over his comments have compounded the difficulties facing Mr
Abe. His six-month premiership has already been rocked by a series of
scandals and gaffes.
An opinion poll on Monday found public support for him - Japan's
youngest ever prime minister - had shrunk to just 35%.
US resolution
Mr Abe provoked an angry reaction earlier this month after
questioning whether there was any proof that the Japanese military
kidnapped women to work as sex slaves during the war.
Mr Abe's comments drew sharp criticism from China and South Korea in
particular, where many of the women came from.
Many historians believe Japan compelled up to 200,000 women - who
also came from the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan - to become sex
slaves during the war.
But some Japanese conservatives argue that the women were
professional prostitutes who had been paid for their services, and
any abuses were carried out by private contractors rather than the
military.
Mr Abe's comments about the use of coercion were made as the US
Congress began considering a non-binding resolution, which calls for
Tokyo to make an unequivocal apology for the so-called comfort women.
Officials in Japan reject the idea that the prime minister should be
told how to apologise by politicians from overseas, our correspondent
says.
They say the draft resolution does not recognise the efforts that
have been made to compensate the former comfort women.
Mr Abe's latest remarks in parliament have been made to clear up any
misunderstanding and not as a result of outside pressure, they
stress.
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