Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki reiterated on Monday that Japan will continue to honor the Kono statement on wartime sex slavery.

The Kono statement was issued in 1993 by Japan's then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, who officially acknowledged and apologized for Japan forcing women from other Asian countries to become sex slaves.

Shiozaki made the remarks during talks with visiting South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Vice Minister Cho Jung Pyo. He said that the Japanese government will not change the policy of honoring the Kono statement.

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Ryutaro Hashimoto have both sent letters of apology to former sex slaves and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shares the same feeling, Shiozaki was quoted by Kyodo News as saying.

In a NHK program on Sunday morning, Abe said honoring the Kono statement has been a persistent stand of the Japanese government.

He expressed an apology to "comfort women" who were forced by Japan's then military government to provide sex to its servicemen during World War II and had endured severe mental and physical suffering.

The prime minister's remarks were turn-around from what he said on Thursday, when he hinted of a reinvestigation of the facts unearthed by the previous official enquiry, which led to the Kono statement in 1993.

At a meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, Cho Jung Pyo expressed concern over Abe's remarks disputing the existence of sex slaves, according to Kyodo News.

Analysts warned that if put into action, the reinvestigation could lead to a review of Japan's official stand on the issue of wartime sex slavery which would bring further criticism from Asian countries which suffered from Japan's aggression.

Editor: Yan