The Osaka Municipal Government will ask San Francisco's city council to carefully examine a resolution that supports establishment of a statue honoring the "comfort women" who worked at wartime Japanese military brothels, officials said.

Osaka City Hall will send a letter to the assembly of its U.S. sister city expressing concerns that erecting such a statue could negatively affect the city-to-city relationship as well as diplomatic ties between Japan and the United States.

The letter will be sent by Sept. 8, when the San Francisco council, known as the board of supervisors, is scheduled to start debate on the resolution, Osaka officials said Tuesday.