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The Japanese politician who has been making a series of wild and provocative statements
about the comfort women issue has made yet more offensive comments.
In his latest remarks, Toru Hashimoto freely admitted to Japan's wartime sex crimes, but
said several other countries, including Korea, are not totally blameless either.
Ji Myung-kil reports.
Toru Hashimoto is showing no signs of backing down from his reckless comments about comfort
women and the treatment of women during wartime.
Japan's Kyodo News Agency and Asahi Shimbun reported Monday that the Osaka mayor and the
co-leader of Japan's Restoration Party said Korean troops fighting in the Vietnam War
would visit frontline brothels.
He went onto say the U.S., Britain and France also had women provide sex to their troops
in various wars.
Hashimoto also said Japan's legalized sex industry plays an important role in ensuring
U.S. servicemen in Japan behave.
The comments are now coming on a near-daily basis, but it seems Hashimoto's statements
are having a negative effect on his party.
In a recent survey by the Asahi Shimbun, 75 percent of respondents said they had a problem
with Hashimoto's remarks.
Only 20 percent said they saw no problem with his comments.
Another poll conducted over the weekend shows support for Hashimoto's Restoration Party
in the upcoming House of Councilors election this summer dropped to five percent from eleven
percent in April.
Meanwhile, 84-year-old Korean comfort women, Kil Won-ok, delivered a speech in Hiroshima
on Monday where she said Tokyo needs to listen to its past wartime victims.
Kil and 87-year-old Kim Bok-***, who is accompanying Kil on her trip, will meet with Hashimoto
on Friday and ask him for a direct apology.
Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News.