Japan urged to make official apology to comfort women

The British weekly magazine, The Economist, said in its latest issue that Japan should "recover its dignity" by making an official government apology to the so-called comfort women who served as sex slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.

Japan told The Economist that the government had already settled the comfort women issue through international and bilateral agreements, but the magazine pointed out that no official apology was made as a nation.

The Economist went on to say that Japan had rejected the existence of the military comfort women problem until 1993, and that it attempted to silence the victims by doling out compensation through private foundations.

If Japan is to heighten its reputation in Asia, the nation will have to first apologize to the women who suffered under the Japanese army's "barbarity."