Apologetic sentiments toward "comfort women" necessary: Abe
13/3/2007 16:51
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo last night that it is
necessary to maintain apologetic sentiments toward war-time "comfort women" who
have endured severe mental and physical suffering. Abe made the remarks at a
press conference when asked about his apology for war-time sex slavery on
Sunday. The prime minister also reiterated his cabinet's unchanged stance of
honoring the Kono statement on the sex slavery issue in World War II, according
to NHK TV station. In an NHK program on Sunday morning, Abe said that
honoring the Kono statement has been a persistent stance of the Japanese
government. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Ryutaro Hashimoto
have both sent letters of apology to past "comfort women," and he himself shares
the same sentiment, Abe said. During the program Abe expressed his "unfeigned
apology" to the "comfort women" who endured severe mental and physical
suffering. The Kono statement was issued in 1993 by Japan's then Chief
Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, who acknowledged and apologized for Japan's forced
recruitment of women from other Asian countries into sexual
slavery.
Xinhua
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