Five Filipino former "comfort women" who accepted cash payments from the Japanese government-sponsored Asian Women's Fund in December have rejected Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's letter of apology, it was learned Friday.
The five women, who were forced to work at frontline brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II, received a 2 million yen lump-sum payment each from the semiprivate fund, according to fund officials.
The government also mailed a letter of apology from Hashimoto to each of the recipients, as had been done for others who received the payment earlier.