SEOUL: The combative mayor of Osaka took on Japan's foreign press corps Monday in a nearly three-hour defense of his comments on wartime sex slaves. It comes as Koreans have expressed anger over the comments from the mayor, saying he should be removed from office. "What he said was ridiculous and shows just how racist the Japanese older generation can still be. We should be able to admit wrongs and move forward in solidarity, but this sort of thing offends Koreans and especially Korean and Chinese women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II," 22-year-old university student Jen Cheung told Bikyanews.com on Monday. Toru Hashimoto again insisted Japan's soldiers were not uniquely guilty in their widely-condemned "comfort women" system, claiming systemic trafficking for sexual purposes by armies around the world. Hashimoto drew ire earlier this month after suggesting the approximately 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere who were forcibly drafted into brothels during World War II played a "necessary" role in maintaining discipline. Under questioning from journalists at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo, he stepped back from that assertion, but pressed his point that Japan was not alone. "(Sexual violation) existed in the armed forces of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union among others during World War II," Hashimoto said. The abrasive mayor said many militaries worldwide relied on businessmen to operate wartime brothels where trafficked women were often forced to provide sex for their soldiers. "I believe there were some forms of human trafficking at such local facilities operated by the private sector and used by the US and British militaries during World War II," Hashimoto said. Hashimoto offered no proof of his assertions and there is no mainstream evidence that other modern militaries have employed a formal sex slavery system. Like many on the right of Japanese politics, Hashimoto has questioned whether there was direct state or military involvement in the running of "comfort stations". "From a historical viewpoint, it is unclear if Japan, as a national policy, carried out abduction or human trafficking," he said. But, he added, it was immaterial and did not lessen the wrong. "In terms of human traffic, there is no difference between facilities operated with the military involvement of Japan and similar facilities run by the private sector," he added. "Both were bad." It also comes on the heels of anger from Japan over a "comfort women" statue in Seoul placed directly in front of the Japanese embassy in remembrance of the thousands of women forced into sexual servitude over 70 years ago. BN
