The president of the Asahi Shimbun on Friday expressed regret for the way the newspaper handled the retraction of some of its reports on the thousands of mostly Korean women who were coerced into Japan's military brothels before and during the war, and said it would establish a system to review past reports.
"We sincerely regret we failed to admit our inaccurate reporting in some of our articles. . . . We failed to face up to our readership, but worked hard to make excuses to defend our standpoint," Masataka Watanabe told a press conference in Tokyo. "Our staffers promise to work squarely to restructure the Asahi Shimbun in a profound way."
He said whatever changes the newspaper introduces, managers will not be allowed to interfere unduly in the editorial process.