This Day in History: 1992-01-13

Japan’s prime minister apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, citing newly uncovered documents that showed the Japanese army had had a role in abducting the so-called “comfort women.” Approximately 200,000 Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, Malaysian, Taiwanese and Filipino women and girls were forced to be so-called “comfort women” by the Japanese army. The government has never made restitution or punished any of the men responsible, and Japan has tried to remove and block comfort women memorials across the globe.