독도, 과거사 문제에 대해 망언을 일삼아온 일본유신회 공동대표 하시모토 도루(橋下徹.44) 오사카 시장이 위안부 제도가 당시 상황상 필요했다고 주장했다.
일본 매체들에 따르면 하시모토 시장은 13일 오사카(大阪) 시청에서 기자들과 만난 자리에서 일본군 위안부 제도에 대해 "그 정도로 총탄이 오가는 상황에서 정신 적으로 신경이 곤두서 있는 강자 집단에 위안부제도가 필요하다는 것은 누구라도 알 수 있는 일"이라고 망언을 다시 늘어놓았다.
그는 또 "왜 일본의 종군 위안부제도만 문제가 되느냐. 당시는 세계 각국이 (위안부제도를) 갖고 있었다"고 주장했다.
이어 "일본은 국가적으로 위안부를 강제로 납치해 일하게 했다고 세계는 비난하고 있지만 2007년 각의 결정에서는 그런 증거가 없는 것으로 돼 있다"며 "사실과 다 른 것으로 일본이 부당하게 모욕받고 있는데 대해서는 확실히 주장하지 않으면 안된 다"고 말했다.
하시모토 시장은 "의사에 반해서 위안부가 된 것은 전쟁의 비극의 결과"라고 밝히고, "전쟁의 책임은 일본에도 있다. 위안부에게는 상냥한 말과 부드러운 마음으로 대하지 않으면 안된다"고 부연했다.
그는 이날 저녁에는 "위안부 제도가 아니어도 '풍속업'이 필요하다고 생각한다"
며 이달초 오키나와(沖繩) 후텐마(普天間) 미군기지를 방문했을 때 병사들이 성적 에너지를 해소할 수 있도록 "풍속업을 더 활용해 달라"고 지휘관에게 제언했다고 소 개했다.
하시모토는 작년 8월 "위안부가 (일본군에) 폭행•협박을 당해서 끌려갔다는 증 거는 없다"며 "있다면 한국이 내놨으면 좋겠다"고 말해 한국을 비롯한 주변국의 반발을 샀다.
이와 함께 하시모토 시장은 최근 논란이 되고 있는 아베 신조(安倍晋三) 총리의 '침략 부정' 발언에 대해 "침략에 학술적인 정의는 없다는 것은 총리가 이야기한 그 대로다"라고 강변했다.
다만 그는 "일본은 패전국"이라며 "패전의 결과로서, 침략이었다는 것을 받아들 이지 않으면 안된다"고 밝혔다. 또 일본이 "실제로 주변국에 엄청난 고통과 손해를 준 것은 틀림없다"며 "반성과 사죄를 하지 않으면 안된다"고 말했다.
하시모토 시장은 '총리감'으로 거론될 정도로 일본에서 인기를 누리고 있는 '정 치스타'로, 이시하라 신타로(石原愼太郞•81) 전 도쿄도 지사와 함께 신생 보수야당 일본유신회의 공동대표를 맡고 있다.
유신회는 최근 개헌발의 요건을 정한 헌법 96조 개정을 적극 지지하고 집단적 자위권 행사 용인을 주장하는 등 아베 정권과 정치적 보조를 같이하고 있다.
일본 정부 대변인인 스가 요시히데(菅義偉) 관방장관은 이날 하시모토 시장의 발언에 대해 "개인의 발언이라고 생각한다"며 "정부 방침은 별개로 정해져 있다"고 밝혔다.
민주당의 가이에다 반리(海江田万里) 대표는 하시모토 발언에 대해 "위안부 제도는 필요없었다"고 밝혔고, 공산당의 이치다 다다요시(市田忠義) 서기국장은 "인간을 깔보는 허용키 어려운 발언"이라며 "국정을 말할 자격도 없다"고 비난했다.
<관련 영문 기사>
Japanese mayor: Wartime sex slaves were necessary
An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to “maintain discipline” in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle.
The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan's wartime aggression and have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities.
Toru Hashimoto, the young, brash mayor of Osaka who is co-leader of an emerging conservative political party, also said that U.S. troops currently based in southern Japan should patronize the local sex industry more to help reduce rapes and other assaults.
Hashimoto told reporters on Monday that there wasn't clear evidence that the Japanese military had coerced women to become what are euphemistically called “comfort women” before and during World War II.
“To maintain discipline in the military, it must have been necessary at that time,” Hashimoto said. “For soldiers who risked their lives in circumstances where bullets are flying around like rain and wind, if you want them to get some rest, a comfort women system was necessary. That's clear to anyone.”
Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in military brothels.
China's Foreign Ministry criticized the mayor's comments and saw them as further evidence of a rightward drift in Japanese politics under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“We are appalled and indignant about the Japanese politician's comments boldly challenging humanity and historical justice,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily media briefing. “The way they treat the past will determine the way Japan walks toward the future. On what choice Japan will make, the Asian neighbors and the international community will wait and see.”
Asked about a photo of Abe posing in a fighter jet with the number 731 _ the number of a notorious, secret Japanese unit that performed chemical and biological experiments on Chinese in World War II _ Hong again urged Japan not to whitewash history so as to improve relations with countries that suffered under Japanese occupation.
“There is a mountain of definitive iron-hard evidence for the crimes they committed in the Second World War. We hope Japan will face and contemplate their history of aggression and treat it correctly,” Hong said.
Abe posed, thumbs up, in the aircraft during a weekend visit to northeastern Japan.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed disappointment over what it called a senior Japanese official's serious lack of historical understanding and respect for women's rights. It asked Japan's leaders to reflect on their country's imperial past, including grave human rights violations, and correct anachronistic historical views.
Hashimoto said he recently visited Okinawa in southern Japan and told the U.S. commander there “to make better use of the sex industry.”
“He froze, and then with a wry smile said that is off-limits for the U.S. military,” he said.
“I told him that there are problems because of such formalities,” Hashimoto said, explaining that he was not referring to illegal prostitution but to places operating within the law. “If you don't make use of those places you cannot properly control the sexual energy of those tough guys.”
Calls to the after-hours number for U.S. Forces in Japan were not answered.
Hashimoto's comments came amid continuing criticism of Abe's earlier pledges to revise Japan's past apologies for wartime atrocities. Before he took office in December, Abe had advocated revising a 1993 statement by then Prime Minister Yohei Kono acknowledging and expressing remorse for the suffering caused to the sexual slaves of Japanese troops.
Abe has acknowledged “comfort women” existed but has denied they were coerced into prostitution, citing a lack of official evidence.
Recently, top officials in Abe's government have appeared to backpedal on suggestions the government might revise those apologies, apparently hoping to ease tensions with South Korea and China and address U.S. concerns about Abe's nationalist agenda.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga repeated the previous government position and said those women went through unbearable pain.
“The stance of the Japanese government on the comfort women issue is well known. They have suffered unspeakably painful experiences. The Abe Cabinet has the same sentiments as past Cabinets,” he said.
Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura said Hashimoto's remark was unhelpful given the criticism Japan faces from neighboring countries and the U.S. over its interpretation of history.
“A series of remarks related to our interpretation of (wartime) history have been already misunderstood. In that sense, Mr. Hashimoto's remark came at a bad time,” Shimomura told reporters. “I wonder if there is any positive meaning to intentionally make such remarks at this particular moment.”
Hashimoto, 43, is co-head of the newly formed Japan Restoration Party with former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who is a strident nationalist.
Sakihito Ozawa, the party's parliamentary affairs chairman, said he believed Hashimoto's remarks reflected his personal views, but he expressed concerns about possible repercussions.
“We should ask his real intentions and stop this at some point,” he said. (AP)
