In this regard Ri Yong Hwan, candidate academician at the History Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, told KCNA:

"The sexual slavery, the worst anti-ethical crime in the 20th century, was committed in an organized way under the intervention and directive of the then government and military of Japan.

As the Japanese military systematized the sexual slavery, comfort centers were installed in all areas occupied by the Japanese aggressor troops.

According to the minutes (dated Sept. 3, 1942) of a Japanese Ministry of War meeting, the comfort centers totaled to 400, including 100 in northern China, 100 in Southeast Asia and 10 in the southern part of Sakhalin.

Issued on March 4, 1938 was the ministry's order No. 74 'On recruitment of employees for the army comfort stations', which was drawn up by its Justice Department and approved by the chief of the Army General Staff and the director of Justice.

Just before the provocation of the Pacific War, the ministry gave the expeditionary army units such an order as 'On recruitment of comfort women for the army'.

Furthermore, the Japanese imperialists gave shape to the way of providing sexual slaves and instituted a law to handle this affair on an organized basis.

The Japanese government made public the policy on enforcement of the system of women's voluntary labor corps (comfort women), ratified by the prime minister, in September 1943 and a decree on women's voluntary labor in August 1944.

Such confidential documents and minutes were found out and revealed one after another at various institutions of Japan to irrefutably prove its past crime related to the sexual slavery.

Recently, the secretary of the U.S. Department of State said that the expression of 'comfortable women for Japanese army' is wrong and it should be called 'forcible sexual slavery for Japanese army'.

In south Korea, people of different walks of life, including survivors of the sexual slavery and school youth and children, are waging a vigorous struggle in denunciation of Japan's past crimes and scheme for reinvasion.

In Japan, too, people strongly urge the settlement of its disgraceful past.

Japan should not deceive the world people but honestly apologize and make reparation for all its past crimes to the Koreans and other Asian people, following the precedent of Germany."