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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that as the leader of Japan, he feels the need to apologize for the use of comfort women during World War Two. He made the comments during an interview with Newsweek and the Washington Post ahead of his U.S. visit. He said, ¡°We feel responsible for having forced these women to go through that hardship and pain as comfort women under the circumstances at the time.¡±
At first glance, it may seem like the words ¡°apology¡± and ¡°responsibility¡± may look like progress compared to his earlier comments. But the latest words are the result of Japan¡¯s efforts to avoid addressing the question of whether the Japanese government and military were directly involved in the forced mobilization of women to serve as prostitutes for its soldiers during World War Two. Abe still has not responded to the central question of whether the Japanese had forcibly mobilized women to serve as sex slaves.
The reason why Abe has ambiguously acknowledged ¡°responsibility¡± is because he is aware of the tarnished image of Japan in the United States due to the issue of sex slaves. Japan wants the support of the United States regarding the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. Perhaps Japan felt the need to soothe U.S. public sentiment, which will surely question Japan¡¯s right to demand the rights of about 10 of its people abducted by North Korea, when Japan itself is responsible for abducting tens of thousands of women and sending them to brothels to serve as sex slaves.
Regarding Abe¡¯s comments, Reuters said, ¡°Abe's remark appears to be an effort to deflect U.S. criticism,¡± while Japan¡¯s Kyodo News Agency said the latest comments ¡°could be viewed as a stopgap measure unless he clearly withdraws his previous comments.¡±
What Abe must do right now is to honestly acknowledge the fact that the Japanese government and military were involved in the forced mobilization of women to serve as sex slaves. Over the past 10 days, there has been a continuous series of evidence and personal accounts supporting the Japanese government and military¡¯s involvement. A Korean researcher discovered a Dutch intelligence report saying that on the island of Borneo in 1943, special Japanese military police units were capturing women on the streets and sending them to military brothels. At a Dutch war crimes tribunal after World War Two, there were ruling using accounts from one Japanese that ¡°comfort stations were established in occupied areas at the orders of the Japanese military.¡± Japanese experts on comfort women held a news conference criticizing the Japanese government for continually denying objective records, saying that there is no evidence Japan had forcibly mobilized women to serve as sex slaves. How long is Abe going to keep his eyes and ears closed?
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