Many women who were forced to work in the military brothels were from the Korean Peninsula.
"This was a terrible and egregious violation of human rights," Obama said in what is believed to be his first detailed comments on the women, euphemistically referred to in Japan as "comfort women."
Disputes over the role played by the Japanese military have strained ties between Japan and South Korea.
The victims deserved to be "heard" and "respected," Obama said at a joint press conference with South Korean President Park Geun Hye, following their summit talks at the Blue House presidential office in Seoul.
"There should be an accurate and clear account of what happened," Obama said. "Those women were violated in ways that even in the midst of war were shocking," he said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accepts the past has to be recognized "honestly and fairly," Obama said, adding it is in the interests of both Japan and the Korean people to find ways to soothe the heartache and pain of the women.
"My hope would be that we can honestly resolve some of these past tensions but also keep our eye on the future and the possibilities of peace and prosperity for all people," Obama said.
Some comfort women have demanded Japan recognize its legal responsibility for what happened and compensate them. But Japan says all issues of compensation arising from its 35-year colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled by a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral relations.
In March, Obama brokered the first meeting between Abe and Park since they took office, respectively, in 2012 and 2013. He brokered the meeting in The Hague, hoping improved relations between Tokyo and Seoul will help the United States in dealing with regional issues such as North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
- Abe said his government will stick to a 1993 government apology for the pain of the victims and the military's involvement in operating the brothels. That apology was expressed in a statement by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono.
In 1995, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama also apologized for the suffering Japan inflicted on other Asian countries before and during World War II.
"Before the summit (in The Hague), the Japanese leader had made many promises such as inheriting the Murayama statement and Kono statement and working hard to take sincere actions for former comfort women," Park said.
"We should not lose the momentum of the meeting of South Korea, the United States and Japan and it's not necessary to do a lot of talking. But Prime Minister Abe should sincerely keep promises he made," the South Korean president said.
During the trilateral talks in the Netherlands, Abe and Park agreed to resume bilateral dialogue, and senior working-level talks between the governments were held earlier this month on disputes over the comfort women issue.
The Kono statement said the Japanese government felt remorse and extended its sincere apologies to all those who "suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."
Some conservative lawmakers, including close Abe aides, have urged the government to reconsider or rewrite the Kono statement, challenging the language regarding the military's involvement in the recruitment of the women.
Yoshihide Suga, top Japanese government spokesman, said earlier this year that Abe's government set up a team to re-examine how the statement had been drafted, drawing a strong reaction from South Korea.
But before the trilateral summit in the Netherlands, Abe clearly stated his government would not attempt to revise the 1993 government apology.
==Kyodo
[globalpost.com]
25/4/14
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Related:
Japanese activists petition White House to remove comfort woman statue
Νέος «πόλεμος» Κίνας - Ιαπωνίας για τις «σκλάβες του σέξ» ... ΙΑΠΩΝΩΝ ΣΤΟ Β ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΟ ΠΟΛΕΜΟ
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