Minju Joson Sunday observes in a bylined commentary in this regard:

What the prime minister of Japan uttered as regards the crimes related to the "comfort women" for the Imperial Japanese Army and the approach taken by him towards this issue are a total negation of the stark historical facts and a downright mockery of its victims and human conscience.

Japan's persistent denial of its past crimes is by no means irrelevant to its policy of militarist overseas expansion.

Japan is as ever rushing headlong into militarist overseas expansion.

It is the Japanese reactionaries' contention that they should embellish their past history stained with the blood of Asians if they are to imbue the Japanese society with militarist idea and hurl people into a war of overseas aggression.

Prompted by this, they are running the whole gamut of reckless remarks distorting history, paying no heed to the demand of the international community for Japan's settlement of its past crimes.

Lurking behind their outpourings is a sinister aim to make the question as to whether "the comfort women" for the Imperial Japanese Army actually existed in history or not a subject of debate and hush it up in the end.

This is, however, no more than a daydream. No matter how desperately the Japanese reactionaries may negate their wrongs, they can never hide the truth about history.