There were suppressing and abuse on human rights in the 20th century, and Japan was not unrelated with that, Abe told reporters in his official residence, adding that he is deeply sympathetic to then "comfort women" and is apologetic to their sufferings.

In a recent interview with the U.S. magazine Newsweek, he said "I am extremely sorry that they were made to endure such pain. We feel responsible over the situation in which the women had to exist as 'comfort women' and endure such hardship."

He also pledged to stick to a 1993 statement made by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, who officially acknowledged and apologized over the fact that Japan forced women from other Asian countries to be sex slaves for its soldiers.

The wartime sex slavery issue has drawn international attention since Abe said in early March that there are no documents to prove the Japanese military physically coerced women to provide sex for its soldiers during World War II.

An estimated 200,000 women were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese forces during World War II, most of whom came from the countries invaded by Japan at that time.

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