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(LEAD) Japanese opposition leader says he feels sorry for sex slaves' pain

All News 18:19 August 03, 2015

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead: ADDS more info throughout)

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- A Japanese opposition leader said Monday he felt "very sorry and shameful" that many South Korean victims of Tokyo's wartime sex slavery have been suffering from pain due to his country's wrongdoings.

Katsuya Okada, leader of Japan's opposition Democratic Party, made the remarks at a press conference in Seoul where he arrived on Sunday for a three-day trip, his first visit to Seoul in this capacity.

Seoul and Tokyo are seeking to mend their frayed relations in a landmark year, but little progress has been made due mainly to Japan's reluctance to sincerely apologize for its wartime sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women.

"As a Japanese politician, I feel very sorry and shameful that South Korean victims of Japan's sex slavery have been suffering from agony," Okada told reporters here.

"As the two nations have been holding talks on the sex slaves, I think that the issue can be smoothly resolved by making more efforts," he added.

The two neighbors are preparing to celebrate Aug. 15, which marks the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule and the end of World War II. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic ties.

South Korea demands that Japan show sincerity by settling the sex slave issue "in a way that is agreeable to the living victims," including through a sincere apology and compensation. Japan insists the issue was settled under the normalization treaty of 1965.

President Park Geun-hye has shunned a summit with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe since taking office in early 2013, citing Japan's attitude toward the issue of the sex slaves.

Okada quoted Park as saying that it is desirable to hold a summit with Abe at an early date after the two nations resolve pending issues step by step. Earlier in the day, the Japanese lawmaker met with President Park and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

"Park told me that she has not attached conditions for the summit," he said.

Abe plans to issue a statement on Aug. 15 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, which analysts say is not likely to contain Japan's apology for the issue of sex slaves.

Seoul has urged Abe to uphold previous administrations' statements of apology for Japan's wartime history -- the 1993 Kono and 1995 Murayama statements -- in his speech next week.

Meanwhile, Yun stressed during his meeting with Okada that Japan should clearly express its willingness to inherit the spirit of its previous key statements, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Okada said that he will also make efforts to help improve the frayed relations to make 2015 the first year of better ties, it added.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)

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