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The resolution calls on Tokyo to acknowledge the fact that it drafted comfort women from Asian countries including Korea, accept responsibility and educate future generations about this crime against humanity. It accuses Japan of “the worst human trafficking crime of the 20th century.” The women were physically and sexually abused by the imperial army and forced to have abortions at the orders of the Japanese government at the time, it says, noting that Japanese textbooks downplay the crime.

A picture of "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II

The committee attempted to pass resolutions on the comfort women in 2001 and 2005, but they floundered due to lobbying from Tokyo. But this time, the resolution was backed by the committee’s irascible chairman Henry Hyde and Rep. Lane Evans, who cosponsored the resolution with Rep. Chris Smith. They were enraged by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to a controversial militarist shrine on Aug. 15, the day of Japan’s surrender in World War II, and insisted on passing it, sources said. It stands out by seeking a say in how Japan perceives its history and educates its people. U.S. lawmakers appear to have concluded that if Japan’s distortions of history go untended, they will have a negative impact on relations between Korea, China and Japan and as a result on U.S. diplomacy in Asia.

It also unanimously passed a North Korea Nonproliferation Act of 2006, which permits sanctions against businesses and individuals who supply materials or technology related to weapons of mass destruction, such as missiles and nuclear weapons, to the North. If the plenary session passes it, it will become the country’s first law based on the UN Security Council resolution condemning the North’s July 5 missile tests.

(englishnews@chosun.com )