TOKYO -- Japanese scholars issued a statement on Monday, urging the Japanese government to settle historical issues between the country and South Korea, especially the comfort women issue.
Two hundred and eighty-one historians, lawyers, writers and doctors have signed on the statement initiated by renowned Japanese professors and legal experts.
The statement said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement to be issued this summer, marking the 70th anniversary of WWII," must start from acceptance of the statements on historical matters issued by previous governments like Kono and Murayama."
The statement urged Abe to reaffirm in his statement that invasion and colonial rule caused harm and pain to neighboring countries including China and South Korea and express renewed sentiments of regret and apology.
It pointed out that the whole world knows that during the WWII, women suffered greatly from being forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army. This has been proved by fresh materials discovered and published by the government of Japan and by private Japanese and South Korean researchers and citizens since the Kono Statement.
The evidence showed that it was the Japanese army, not private contractors, that took primary responsibility for the establishment and management of the Comfort Stations."The Japanese state must admit responsibility for the Japanese Army," said the statement.
It also mentioned that in June, 2014, South Korean and Japanese movement groups proposed a draft solution in terms that should be acceptable to the victims and able to be implemented by the Japanese government. They also demanded an apology from the Japanese government based on admission of the facts and true remorse.
