San Jose Mercury News - Shameful sex slave denial begs for rebuke

San Jose Mercury News - Shameful sex slave denial begs for rebuke: "Shameful sex slave denial begs for rebuke
Mercury News Editorial
Article Launched: 03/07/2007 01:40:34 AM PST

During World War II, Japan enslaved as many as 200,000 women, most of them Korean, and forced them to work as prostitutes in military brothels serving the Japanese troops.

A Japanese Cabinet minister issued a lukewarm apology to the victims in 1993, and a private fund was set up to help the few remaining survivors.

But last week, Japan's conservative prime minister, Shinzo Abe, took it all back. 'There is no evidence to prove there was coercion, nothing to support it,' Abe said.

That is an outrageous lie, echoed by conservative Japanese lawmakers, one of whom likened the brothels to 'college cafeterias.'

Congress needs to send a strong rebuke to Japan's leaders. It should pass a resolution introduced earlier this year by Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, that calls on Japan to unequivocally apologize for its treatment of the women and educate its people about its wartime actions.

During a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last month, three survivors testified about the trauma they suffered from the sexual abuse by Japanese soldiers. 'It was as if I were already dead. I cannot remember how many or how long. I lost consciousness,' said Koon Ja Kim, 81.
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