By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Japan has warned the U.S. House of Representatives that a resolution on comfort women, if passed, will seriously damage Tokyo-Washington relations, according to a U.S.-based report.
Japanese Ambassador to Washington Ryozo Kato sent a letter on June 22 to five House leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that the passage of the resolution will almost certainly have ``lasting and harmful effects'' on the bilateral relations, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
The resolution calls for an official apology from Japan for its wartime policy of forcing women in its colonies to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers.
Ryozo said Japan has already officially apologized for the issue of comfort women and suggested that his country may reconsider its supportive role in Iraq. Japan, the second largest donor for rebuilding Iraq following the United States, has recently extended its spending for Iraq for another two years.
However, Rep. Michael Honda, who initiated the resolution, dismissed the letter by saying that the resolution will not hurt the relations diplomatically or trade-wise.
The resolution, which was overwhelmingly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last month, will likely go to a vote on July 30, one day after Japan's election in the upper house. The House will begin its recess on Aug. 6.
The House leaders agreed to put off the voting of the resolution in order not to affect the Japanese election.
Honda, a Japanese-American who was sent to an internment camp in Colorado during World War II, said that Japan should apologize formally for its actions concerning the comfort women in the same way the United States has apologized for interning Japanese American citizens.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a different position from his predecessors about the comfort women issues. He has said that there is no documentation proving that the Japanese military forced Asian women to become prostitutes for its soldiers.