US lawmakers seek to prod Japan on WWII sex slaves

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) A proposed US congressional resolution urging Japan to apologise to women forced into sexual servitude for Japanese soldiers in World War Two should come up for debate this month, its sponsor said.

California Democratic Rep Michael Honda on Wednesday introduced the nonbinding measure, a move that could roil close US-Japan ties ahead of an expected spring visit to Washington by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Honda's resolution calls on the government of Japan to ''formally and unambiguously apologise for and acknowledge the tragedy that comfort women endured at the hands of its Imperial Army during World War Two,'' his office said in a statement yesterday.

''Comfort women'' is a Japanese euphemism for the estimated 200,000 mostly Asian women forced to provide sex for Japan's soldiers at battle-zone brothels during World War Two.

''These women, whose experiences were unprecedented in cruelty and were officially commissioned by the government of Japan, endured gang rape, forced abortions, humiliation and sexual violence resulting in mutilation, death or eventual suicide -- and to this date, they have still not received justice from this tragedy,'' the resolution reads.

The women and other wartime issues still strain Japan's ties with China and the two Koreas, causing concern in Washington because the US alliance with Tokyo is a bedrock of American policy in the region.

Honda's spokesman, Daniel Kohns, said the resolution would likely be debated in the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs in a few weeks.

Four previous attempts to pass the nonbinding resolution were blocked from being voted on by the entire House. But Kohns said ''all indications are that there's a groundswell of support for this.'' Honda, one of a handful of members of the US Congress of Japanese descent, said he had no intention to ''bash or humiliate Japan'' and merely wanted justice for the women.

Reuters SBA VP0646