Japan's Abe: No Proof of WWII Sex Slaves
By KOZO MIZOGUCHI 03.01.07
Japan's nationalist prime minister denied Thursday that the
country's military forced women into sexual slavery during World
War II, casting doubt on a past government apology and jeopardizing
a fragile detente with his Asian neighbors.
The comments by Shinzo Abe, a member of a group of lawmakers
pushing to roll back a 1993 apology to the sex slaves, were his
clearest statement as prime minister on military brothels known in
Japan as "comfort stations."
Historians say some 200,000 women - mostly from Korea and China -
served in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the
1930s and 1940s. Many victims say they were kidnapped and forced
into sexual slavery by Japanese troops.
But Abe, who since taking office in September has promoted
patriotism in Japan's schools and a more assertive foreign policy,
told reporters there was no proof the women were forced into
prostitution.
"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion,"
Abe said.
His remarks contradicted evidence in Japanese documents unearthed
in 1992 that historians said showed military authorities had a
direct role in working with contractors to forcibly procure women
for the brothels.
The documents, which are backed up by accounts from soldiers and
victims, said Japanese authorities set up the brothels in response
to uncontrolled rape sprees by invading Japanese soldiers in East
Asia.
In 1993, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono apologized to the
victims of sex slavery, though the statement did not meet demands
by former "comfort women" that it be approved by parliament. Two
years later, the government set up a compensation fund for victims,
but it was based on private donations - not government money - and
has been criticized as a way for the government to avoid owning up
to the abuse.
The mandate for the fund is to expire March 31.
Abe's comments were certain to rile South Korea and China, which
accuse Tokyo of failing to fully atone for wartime atrocities.
Abe's government has been recently working to repair relations with
Seoul and Beijing.
The statement came just hours after South Korean President Roh
Moo-hyun marked a national holiday honoring the anniversary of a
1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule by urging Tokyo to
come clean about its past.
Roh also referred to hearings held by the U.S. House of
Representatives last month on a resolution urging Japan to
"apologize for and acknowledge" the imperial army's use of sex
slaves during the war.
"The testimony reiterated a message that no matter how hard the
Japanese try to cover the whole sky with their hand, there is no
way that the international community would condone the atrocities
committed during Japanese colonial rule," Roh said.
Dozens of people also rallied outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul
to mark the anniversary, lining up dead dogs' heads on the ground
with pieces of paper in their mouths listing names of Koreans who
allegedly collaborated with the Japanese during its 1910-45
colonial rule. Protest organizers said the animals were slaughtered
at a restaurant; dogs are regularly consumed as food in
Korea.
Roh's office said late Thursday it did not immediately have a
direct response to the Japanese leader's remarks. In Beijing, calls
to the Chinese Foreign Ministry seeking comment on the remarks were
not immediately returned.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would not comment on
Abe's statement. "I'll let the Japanese political system deal with
that," he said.
The sex slave question has been a cause celebre for nationalist
politicians and scholars in Japan who claim the women were
professional prostitutes and were not coerced into servitude by the
military.
Before Abe spoke Thursday, a group of ruling Liberal Democratic
Party lawmakers discussed their plans to push for an official
revision of Kono's 1993 apology.
Nariaki Nakayama, chairman of the group of about 120 lawmakers,
sought to play down the government's involvement in the brothels by
saying it was similar to a school that hires a company to run its
cafeteria.
"Some say it is useful to compare the brothels to college
cafeterias run by private companies, who recruit their own staff,
procure foodstuffs, and set prices," he said.
"Where there's demand, businesses crop up ... but to say women were
forced by the Japanese military into service is off the mark," he
said. "This issue must be reconsidered, based on truth ... for the
sake of Japanese honor."
Sex slave victims, however, say they still suffer wounds - physical
and psychological - from the war.
Lee Yong-soo, 78, a South Korean who was interviewed during a
recent trip to Tokyo, said she was 14 when Japanese soldiers took
her from her home in 1944 to work as a sex slave in Taiwan.
"The Japanese government must not run from its responsibilities,"
said Lee, who has long campaigned for Japanese compensation. "I
want them to apologize. To admit that they took me away, when I was
a little girl, to be a sex slave. To admit that history."
AP writer Burt Herman contributed to this report from Seoul, South
Korea.
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