Gato, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Says "No Evidence of Forced Recruitment of Comfort Women"

Kato Katsunobu, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan [Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Kato Katsunobu, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, reiterated on the 31st the Japanese government's position that while it inherits the 'Kono Statement' which acknowledged the coercion in the mobilization of comfort women, there is no evidence of forced abduction by the military or authorities.

At a regular press conference that day, Secretary Kato responded to Sankei Shimbun's criticism that among the 12 history comprehensive textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology the previous day, 9 cover comfort women, and some publishers describe them as "military comfort women," which suggests military coercion.

Kato stated, "The term 'military comfort women' was used in the 1993 Kono Chief Cabinet Secretary Statement," and added, "The government's basic position is to inherit that statement." However, he explained, "According to the government's investigation results, the term 'military comfort women' was not used in official documents at the time; instead, the terms 'comfort women' or 'special comfort women' were used," and "Recently, the government uses the term 'comfort women' rather than 'military comfort women.'"

Kato also mentioned, "In the March 16, 2007 response to a written question (a document format question submitted by the Japanese Diet to the Cabinet), it was stated that among the materials related to comfort women found by the government, no descriptions directly showing so-called forced abduction by the military or authorities were discovered."

By repeatedly citing the government response submitted to the Diet, which was decided by the Cabinet during the first Abe Shinzo administration, he reiterated the position that there is no evidence of forced abduction of comfort women by the military or authorities.

In response to Sankei Shimbun's additional question on whether there is any intention to revise the term "so-called military comfort women" in the Kono Statement, Kato replied, "The government's position is to inherit the statement itself," and said, "There has been no change at this point."

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