Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is dabbling in revisionist history. Despite the historical evidence, and a 1993 apology by a government official, Abe now denies any Japanese military involvement in forcing thousands of women into brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s and ’40s.


Time:

Historians say some 200,000 women — mostly from Korea and China — served in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s and 1940s. Many victims say they were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops, and the top government spokesman acknowledged the wrongdoing in 1993.

Now some in Japan’s government are questioning whether the apology was needed.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday denied women were forced into military brothels across Asia, boosting renewed efforts by right-wing politicians to push for an official revision of the apology.

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