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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will not revise a historic Japanese apology
for the army's use of war-time sex slaves. His government had announced a review of the
evidence that the army forced Asian women to serve in its brothels.
Mr Abe spoke of his pain at the "immeasurable suffering" endured by the women and said the
apology would not be withdrawn. China and South Korea have accused Japan of
trying to rewrite history. Up to 200,000 women, many of them Koreans,
were used as prostitutes by troops of the Japanese imperial army during the 1930s and
40s. Japan issued the "Kono statement" in 1993
which offered an apology, admitting for the first time the army had played a direct or
indirect role in the forced recruitment of Asian women.
Mr Abe said that his cabinet upheld the position outlined by previous administrations on Japan's
war-time past. "We must be humble regarding history... it
should not be politicised or made into a diplomatic issue," he said.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made a similar statement on Monday, but
indicated that Japan would still reconsider the historical facts on which the statement
was made. Japanese officials have indicated that the
Kono statement was negotiated with the South Korean government as a way to draw a line
under the controversy. One official said the surviving women who
provided the testimony on which the apology was based appeared to have been selected by
the South Korean government. He said the Abe cabinet wanted to establish
the exact circumstances in which the statement was made.
Disputes over territory and the record of Japan's war time aggression have severely
damaged relations between Japan and its neighbours. The Japanese government has been trying to
arrange a first summit meeting between Mr Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye,
but there has been no agreement. Mrs Park has called on Japan to embrace "truth
and reconciliation". The United States has been trying to get its
two major Asian allies to set aside their differences and work more closely together,
particularly over the perceived threat from North Korea.