HispanicBusiness

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga kept a vague tone Thursday about whether the new government will revise a 1993 statement issued as an apology on the so-called comfort women issue.

"The matter should not be political or diplomatic," Suga told a press conference when asked about the possibility of revising the statement, issued by then top government spokesman Yohei Kono.

Noting that the issue is being studied by historians and learned individuals, Suga said, "It is desirable to accumulate such research."

The Kono statement acknowledged the Japanese military's involvement in the seizure of women who were compelled to serve as prostitutes for Japanese troops before and during World War II.

In September, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a joint press conference in the run-up to the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race that Japan should issue a new statement to replace the one by Kono in order not to disgrace future generations. He said there was no evidence that Japanese troops had forcibly abducted comfort women.