Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday there was no evidence to prove that wartime sex slavery was run by Japan's government, a move which backtracks from the 1993 Kono statement.

"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion, and we have to take it from there," Abe was quoted as saying by Jiji Press, when asked by reporters about the 1993 government statement over the wartime sex slavery issue.

In 1993, the then Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono issued the so-called Kono statement, officially acknowledging and apologizing for Japan setting up and running brothels for its aggressor troops throughout Asia in 1930s and 1940s.

Jiji Press quoted officials near Abe as saying that the premier has just followed what he said at the parliament inquiry, and his remarks did not mean he has changed his stance over the issue.

Abe's comments came as the U.S. House of Representatives mulls a resolution calling Tokyo to "formally acknowledge, apologize and accept the historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" for the abuse of "comfort women" during World War II.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said the Japanese government did not agree to the U.S. congressional resolution, and reiterated that the government still honors the Kono statement.

However, Abe's remarks also followed moves by a group of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers, who urged the government to revise the Kono statement, according to the local newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

"The Kono statement has damaged Japan's image and drawn misunderstanding of the facts and spiteful criticism of Japan," the newspaper quoted the lawmakers as saying.

Since Abe assumed the post of premier, he has repeatedly said the government would honor the Kono statement on the issue of wartime sex slaves.

It is an irrefutable fact that an estimated 200,000 women were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese forces during World War Two, and most of them came from countries invaded by Japan at the time.

Any denial of this historical fact by Japanese politicians has drawn sharp criticism from Japan's Asian neighbors, particularly China and South Korea.

China has repeatedly expressed indignation over and has strongly condemned Japanese politicians' utterly shameless comments on the "comfort women" issue.

Editor: Donald