From the Associated Press:
TOKYO -- Japan tried to calm an international furor Wednesday over its forcing Asian women to work in military brothels during World War II, saying the government stands by an earlier landmark apology for the practice.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe triggered a barrage of criticism throughout Asia by saying last week there was no proof the women were coerced into prostitution. He said Monday Japan will not apologize again for the so-called "comfort stations" for Japanese soldiers.
"The Prime Minister's recent remarks are not meant to change this government's position," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said, referring to a breakthrough 1993 apology made by then-chief Cabinet secretary Yohei Kono.
"The government continues to support the Kono statement," Shiozaki said.
Historians say thousands of women -- as many as 200,000 by some accounts and euphemistically known as "comfort women" -- worked in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s and '40s.
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