Japan will not retract its 1993 apology for forcing women into sexual slavery in military brothels during the war, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday in an attempt to ease tensions with South Korea.
The confirmation by Abe followed similar remarks by some of his Cabinet members over the Kono statement that apologized over the wartime "comfort women," who were mostly Koreans.
Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki visited Seoul earlier this week with the reported aim of conveying Tokyo's position to the South Korean government.