Past is Past (Photo:Flickr)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month said there is “no evidence” that women were forced to become sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II.

It is indeed embarrassing when the premier of a nation makes such ignorant remarks, while his government in the past has recognized its atrocities and apologized for running brothels for its Imperial army troops. Not only that, the government also set up a special fund in 1995 to compensate women affected during the WWII.

An estimated 200,000 women from Asia – mostly Korean and Chinese - were forced to work as sex slaves during the WWII.



Some in the government probably realize that Abe`s comments were not appropriate considering the strained relations Japan has with its neighboring countries. Therefore, a Japanese Cabinet spokesman appeared later to play down Abe's comments by saying the premier stood by an apology made by the government in 1993 for the use of so-called "comfort women".

While my advice to Abe would be to be consistent with the government’s stance and to embrace the truth, I would also like to advise China and South Korea to move on.

I am not trying to ignore the gravity of the problem, but I would stress that while the new generation should know how ruthless the Japanese were during the war, they should not be paying a price for it.

Germany committed ghastly crimes during the WWII and killed millions of Jews, but they don’t apologize anymore. Past is past, and while we should embrace and accept it, without denying it, we should also learn to move on and not dwell on it.