hankyoreh

U.S. congressmen and their aides left an hour-long meeting Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe less satisfied and more puzzled about his position on "comfort women," turning the tide favorably for a congressional resolution demanding Japan's formal apology, informed sources said.

Abe, visiting here for the first time as prime minister, told the 10 or so legislators invited to the meeting that he, "as prime minister and an individual," feels "heartfelt sympathy" for the comfort women.

He went on to say, "I have a sense of apology toward these individuals."

"The senators and representatives were all quiet, but their aides sitting there with them were shaking their heads," said one source, who spoke strictly on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.

"All of the aides who were there met after the meeting, asking each other what they thought of Abe's comments about 'sense of apology.' The consensus was that they were extremely dissatisfied.

Almost like a slap in the face," the source said.

"This, I think, was the last straw for them."

Comfort women is a euphemism for tens of thousands of young girls who were lured or kidnapped and put into frontline brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The majority of the victims were Koreans, whose country was under Japanese colonial rule at the time.

Tokyo's official stance on comfort women is a 1993 statement by then government spokesman Yohei Kono, who apologized and admitted Japanese military's involvement in running the brothels.

But Abe stoked furor in early March by saying there was no evidence that these women were coerced into sexual slavery. He told the congressmen on Thursday that his comments were not "correctly delivered," according to the sources.

"People who were there felt what Abe said today was actually weaker than the Kono statement," another source said. "It wasn't even clear to them what Abe was trying to say."

Abe brought up the comfort women subject himself, after discussing Iraq, Sudan and other international affairs, according to the source.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii who is of Japanese descent, had organized Abe's meeting with the congressional members. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also attended.

Inouye opposes a resolution submitted by Rep. Mike Honda, a Californian Democrat also of Japanese descent, in January to demand Tokyo's formal unequivocal apology to the comfort women and to press the Japanese government to take responsibility. The senator had sent a letter to Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to Rep. Eni Faleomavaega, chairman of the House subcommittee on Asia and Pacific affairs, and to Rep. Honda saying he is against passing the resolution, mainly out of concern that it will damage U.S.-Japan relations.

Rep. Honda was not invited to Thursday's meeting. But he wrote back to Sen. Inouye, explaining that the issue should not be treated as a diplomatic issue between nations but as an atonement to the victims.

The source said House Speaker Pelosi tried at one point to press Abe harder on the comfort women issue but held back, most likely given the overall atmosphere.

The Korean-American community is campaigning to get the resolution to a floor vote and so far has obtained signatures of over 90 congressmen, from both Democrats and Republicans, as co-sponsors.

The Democrat leadership had put a high bar in requirements to taking the resolution to the floor, asking for 120 signatures that show bipartisan support as well as support from across the U.S.

"What the Democrats have been doing was giving Japan every opportunity possible to make itself clear on the comfort women issue," said the source, who described what congressional aides felt about Abe's comments.

The vote on Honda's resolution was delayed until after the prime minister's visit to give him a chance to make a clear-cut apology, the source said, "Congress did not want to be accused of sneaking it in."

This source saw the sentiment in the Congress growing stronger in favor of the resolution.

"Given the disappointment today, I strongly feel that the situation has tipped over," the source said.
Washington, April 26 (Yonhap News)