Japan Admits Sexual Slavery in WWII, Expresses Remorse

TOKYO —  Admitting that its pre-1945 government recruited women from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia to provide sex for Japanese soldiers, Japan on Monday officially expressed its “remorse” for the “indescribable pain and suffering” of those it euphemistically called “comfort women.”

Koichi Kato, chief Cabinet secretary, made the long-awaited announcement that concluded a seven-month investigation by the government. He also said that the government will “consider how best we can express our feelings to those who endured such pain and suffering.”

Ailing Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe earlier declared that Japan must pay compensation to the women forced into sexual slavery and to their survivors. The report issued Monday made no estimate of the number of “comfort women,” but historians have estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 women were recruited to serve in military brothels.

The study by six government agencies, Kato said, found that the pre-1945 government had established, constructed and operated “comfort stations.” It also found that the government had recruited and carried out sanitary control of the brothel women and had issued them certificates of identification, he added.

Contradicting years of claims that brothels for the armed forces were run by private, not government, operators, the admission marked a complete about-face for the government.

But it came only after a 67-year-old former Korean “comfort woman” filed suit last December in a Tokyo court demanding damages and a Japanese researcher revealed official documents in January that showed a portion of the government’s role in running the “comfort stations.”

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, who visited South Korea immediately after the disclosures, apologized to President Roh Tae Woo and promised to carry out the investigation to determine the facts.

Foreign Ministry officials said copies of the report were presented to the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo and to the governments of China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia.

“I would like to express once again the sincere apology and remorse of the government of Japan to all of those, irrespective of nationality or place of origin, who endured indescribable pain and suffering as comfort women. With this sense of deep remorse and the determination never to repeat such a mistake, the government of Japan will firmly uphold its position as a nation dedicated to peace,” Kato declared.

As with the countless expressions of “regret” for the damage and suffering it inflicted during its occupation of Korea, its war in China and World War II, which Japan has issued over the 47 years since its defeat in 1945, Kato’s apology stopped short of calling the forced prostitution a “crime.” He also said the government investigation has failed to uncover any evidence that women were “kidnaped” to serve as sex slaves.

But the wording of his apology was far stronger and more emotional than any of the previous war atonements.

His announcement also marked the first time that the government has officially indicated a willingness to pay damages to individuals harmed by Japan’s wartime actions. Although Japan paid war reparations to the Philippines and Indonesia, the governments of China, Taiwan and South Korea voluntarily gave up their rights to demand reparations when postwar diplomatic relations were re-established. When Japan recognized China in 1972, it broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

In Seoul, however, Cho Won Il, a spokesman for the South Korean Foreign Ministry, said that “our tentative examination of the announcement indicates that the (Japanese) investigation has not brought the whole truth to light.” He urged Japan to “take specific and earnest measures to resolve the issue.”