Japan Tells UN No Evidence of Forced WWII Sex Slavery

Japan says it has found no evidence its World War II government and military forcibly rounded up women to be sex slaves, Tokyo has told a UN committee, the latest pronouncement in a corrosive row over interpretations of history.

South Korean former "comfort women" Kim Bok-Dong (L) and Gil Won-Ok (R), who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II, attend a protest with other supporters to demand Tokyo's apology for forcing women into military brothels during World War II outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul on August 12, 2015. Close to 1,000 protestors had gathered outside the embassy ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. AFP PHOTO / JUNG YEON-JE Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images

Japan says it has found no evidence its World War II government and military forcibly rounded up women to be sex slaves, Tokyo has told a UN committee, the latest pronouncement in a corrosive row over interpretations of history.

The confirmation, ahead of a conference on women later this month, is likely to renew anger among the dwindling number of surviving former “comfort women”, who say the country has never taken full responsibility for what it did in wartime.

It could also further complicate a troubled deal between Tokyo and Seoul sealed in late December—one their top diplomats called “final and irreversible”—but which has sparked anger among former South Korean comfort women and their supporters.

Up to 200,000 women are estimated to have been forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World War II.