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SEOUL : South Korean politicians on Saturday urged Japan's prime minister to withdraw and apologise for his "outrageous" remarks questioning the wartime enslavement of tens of thousands of Asian women.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe disputed historians' assertions that Tokyo forced at least 200,000 "comfort women" to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels in Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
"Attempts to cover up atrocities committed against comfort women are as futile as attempts to cover up the heaven with your palm," the National Assembly Members' Study Group for Correcting the Falsified National History said in a statement.
"The more Japan attempts to cover up, the heavier its responsibility for its oppressive colonial rule and cruel war crimes will become," the cross-party group of 30 lawmakers said.
Most of the victims were Koreans, whose country was occupied by Japan from 1910 to 1945, but some were from other East Asian countries and even Europe.
But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quoted as saying in a news conference on Thursday that there was no evidence women were coerced into sexual slavery.
"The fact is that there is no evidence to support the claim of the coercion," said Abe, who is known for his conservative views.
Abe's comments appeared to contradict Japan's statement of regret in 1993 when a top government spokesman issued a statement voicing "sincere apologies and remorse" and acknowledging that Japan's imperial army was involved "directly or indirectly" in sexual slavery.
"The outrageous remarks distorted history and cold water on South Korea-Japan ties. They must be withdrawn immediately," said a spokesman for the main opposition Grand National Party.
"Japan will never be able to hide from the historical truth. It should learn from Germany and repent its past wrongdoings," he said.
A spokesman of the ruling Uri Party said Abe's remarks hurt bilateral ties between the two neighbouring countries.
A spokesman of the Democratic Party, a splinter opposition entity, said Abe's statement revealed Japan's intention to gloss over its wartime past and undermined efforts for peace in the Northeast Asian region.
"There will be no future for a nation that refuses to repent its past," he said.
- AFP/ms
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