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Three elderly women, all victims of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement, testified before the U.S. Congress on Thursday, denouncing Tokyo for its refusal to apologize and vowing that they will not let the issue die out.

Two Korean and one Dutch woman appeared before a House subcommittee in what was the first congressional hearing on "comfort women," a euphemism for the young girls, mostly from Korea, who were lured or forcibly taken to frontline brothels to provide sex to Japanese soldiers.

"I am so embarrassed. I am so ashamed. But I have to tell my story," said Lee Yong-soo, a 79-year-old South Korean who was 16 when she was put in a brothel where she was often beaten and tortured until she lost consciousness.

"I will never leave Japan alone," she said, her voice cracking in tearful emotion.

"You cannot leave Japan alone. Never," she told the congressmen in a hearing room so packed that people waited outside or were turned away.

Estimates vary, but about 200,000 women, including those from China and Europe, are believed to have been sexually enslaved by Japan, which from 1910 to 1945 colonized the Korean Peninsula. The plight of comfort women is one of the primary historical issues Tokyo is accused of refuting to this day.

Japan acknowledged that comfort women existed but denies that its imperial government was involved in running the brothels. Its officials have expressed "regrets" to the victims, but there has been no official apology from the government.

The U.S. State Department expressed sympathy for the victims but said it believes Japan has taken steps to deal with the issue.

The privately organized Asian Women's Fund was established by Japan to give monetary compensation to the victims, but the payments have been refused by many who demand an apology.

Last month, Rep. Michael Honda (D-California) submitted a House resolution that calls on Tokyo to unambiguously apologize by having the prime minister make a statement. Thursday's hearing was scheduled based on the resolution.

A previous resolution, submitted by now-retired Rep. Lane Evans, passed a House committee but was shelved at the end of the last congressional term. The ones before it did not even pass the committee.

Japanese protest has been fierce, especially in light of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Washington expected in the spring.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) was rebutted when he said the Japanese government did apologize.

"I have grave doubts about the wisdom, and even the morality, of going any further in adopting a resolution," he said.

"This issue of an apology has been fully and satisfactorily addressed...so let us not beat someone after they have apologized."

He was referring to remarks by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who in 1994 expressed "my profound and sincere remorse" to the comfort women.

Rep. Honda noted that the phrases used by him and other Japanese officials were "my" regrets.

"It was a personal acknowledgement of their regrets. It seems to me it doesn't represent the government," he said.

"I never received an apology," Lee said. "I am the victim. Why is it that I never received an apology but he has?" she said, pointing to the seat left empty by Rep. Rohrabacher's departure.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) said Japan may claim to have closed the books on history but others do not agree.

"To this day...Japan maintains that all potential claims by individuals for sufferings inflicted in the war were closed by treaties normalizing its ties with other Asian countries," he said.

"Clearly, many feel differently."

Jan Ruff O'Herne, a Dutch woman forced into a brothel after Japanese troops invaded the Dutch East Indies, said the war never ended for victims like her.

"We still have the nightmares," she said in her testimony.

The private compensation from Japan was an insult to the victims, O'Herne said. "How dare they?" What she wants is Japan to face true history, the "real" history, she said.

Kim Koon-ja, a South Korean victim, arrived in a wheelchair and testified about her life as a comfort woman that began at the age of 16.

"My body is forever marked and scarred with those beatings, and in some cases, stabbings with a knife," she said.

Her "owners" would not only stab her, but also would twist the knife inside her, she said.

"Money will not change my life, heal my scars, or make my memories change," Kim said.

Honda, speaking to reporters after the hearing, said he wants a floor vote on his resolution after Abe's visit to Washington.

"It doesn't matter," he said when asked when he expects the vote.

"I suspect that we would like to see it after that visit so that he can speak with our members here."
Washington, Feb. 15 (Yonhap News)