Abe renews sympathy for 'comfort women'

**xrough** · 27 Apr 07,, 08:09

Abe renews sympathy for 'comfort women'

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday renewed his deep sympathy for so-called "comfort women" driven into brothels by Japan's military.

"As a person and as prime minister, I feel sympathy from the bottom of my heart to former comfort women, who experienced hardships," Abe told members of the US Congress shortly after he arrived here for talks with US President George W. Bush.

"I feel deeply sorry that they were forced to be placed in such extremely painful situations," Abe told a small group of Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, according to a Japanese government official.

Abe sparked controversy last month by saying there was no evidence the imperial army directly coerced thousands of "comfort women" into brothels across Asia during World War II.

The prime minister has since stressed he stands by Japan's landmark 1993 apology to the women. Bush praised Abe's "candor" on the issue in a telephone conversation early this month, according to the White House.

The White House on Wednesday said Japan "needs to find a way" to lay to rest difficult disputes over World War II issues that upset relations with neighbors like China and South Korea.

Japan has been lobbying hard against a bill being considered by the US Congress that would demand Tokyo issue a fresh, unambiguous apology to comfort women and make amends.

The bill quietly died in the legislature in recent years but is seen as more likely to be passed since the Democrats took control from Bush's Republicans in January.

Historians say up to 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea but also from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan, were forced to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels.

**Dr Fu Manchu** · 27 Apr 07,, 10:25

I guess Abe is in safe knowledge that many of those comfort women would be dead by now, so there would be minimum compensation if at all there is any.

**wkllaw** · 29 Apr 07,, 02:22

Shinzo Abe, what a disgusting person. He backs off and apologize now that he realizes his mistake.

**astralis** · 29 Apr 07,, 05:12

dr fu manchu,

so there would be minimum compensation if at all there is any.

the problem the japanese had was never the monetary value of the compensation (which honestly wouldn't be all that taxing on the japanese economy, even at quite generous levels).

the problem is that acknowledging the NEED for compensation. shinzo abe and his like ilk simply do not believe these injustices occurred. or that if they DID, they were at "normal" levels to be expected in war-time, and were not ordered by the government. in short, it is a matter of domestic national pride more than anything else.

notice how the japanese government set up a "comfort women compensation fund"- but that all the money came from donations or personal sources. in fact, a bunch of japanese lawmakers (including koizumi) actually donated 10% of their salary to this fund when it faced a short-fall. that shows something- namely, they feel guilt, but they don't want japan as a nation to be "tarred" with this.

**Dr Fu Manchu** · 29 Apr 07,, 13:05

Yeah, I have heard about Japanese persistance in justifying WW2 memorial visits of Tojo(or his friends') shrine. The whole affair of Koizumi visiting the war shrine, all to make a statement to the world to mind its own business because -we don't like to be told by others to visit or not to visit- thing. Then he changed it to personal visits rather than official visits.

I guess in their heart of hearts, Japanese till date do not concede defeat even after getting nuked and having their constitution practically ratified under gun-point.

**xrough** · 30 Apr 07,, 01:54

I think what Japan should do is really to apologize for what their soldiers back in WW2 have done on these women. The "comfort women" issue is true and these women should be given what is due for them..