Japan PM says to explain sex slave stance to U.S.

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) Japan's prime minister said today he would ''continue explaining'' his views to US lawmakers after the House of Representatives called on Tokyo to apologise for forcing thousands of women into wartime brothels.

The House approved a non-binding resolution on Monday which was intended as a symbolic statement on the Japanese government's role in forcing up to 200,000 women into sexual servitude to its soldiers before and during World War II.

When asked about the vote, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: ''I need to continue explaining to the US Congress my views and what the government has been doing (on this issue)''.

Abe, a conservative, caused an uproar in March when he said there was no proof that the government or the military had forced the women - mostly Asian and many Korean - into the brothels.

But he has since apologised to the ''comfort women'', as they are euphemistically known in Japan, and has avoided comment on the US resolution.

The vote marked a rare rebuke by US politicians of Washington's closest ally in Asia, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki also gave a low-key response.

''The Prime Minister went to America in April and explained his thinking on this problem again,'' Shiozaki told reporters.

''It is unfortunate that the U.S. House of Representatives nonetheless passed this resolution. Our government has dealt sincerely with the problem of the comfort women.'' In 1993, Japan acknowledged official involvement in setting up and managing the brothels and established a fund, which collected private donations and offered payments of about 20,000 dollars to 285 women.

But US officials have criticised recent attempts by conservative Japanese politicians to deny that Tokyo forced the women into brothels, including a Washington Post advertisement stating that the women had worked as licensed prostitutes.

REUTERS ARB HS1802