Apology given over wartime sex slavery-report

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his apology over wartime sex slavery in a recent interview with the US magazine Newsweek. "As Japan's prime minister, I am extremely sorry that they were made to endure such pain. We feel responsible over the situation in which the women had to exist as 'comfort women' and endure such hardship," said Abe. The prime minister also repeated the vow to stick to a 1993 statement made by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, who officially acknowledged and apologized over the fact that Japan forced women from other Asian countries to be sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II. The wartime sex slavery issue has drawn international attention since Abe said recently that there are no documents to prove the Japanese military physically coerced women to provide sex for its soldiers during World War II.