Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of women was a "terrible, egregious violation of human rights," the U.S. State Department said Tuesday, urging Tokyo to deal with the issue in a way that strengthens relations with its neighbors.
  

"As the United States has stated many times, the trafficking of women for sexual purposes by the Japanese military during World War II was a terrible, egregious violation of human rights," a State Department representative told Yonhap News Agency.
  

"The United States has consistently encouraged Japan to approach this and other issues arising from the past in a manner that is conducive to building stronger relations with its neighbors," the official said.
  

Earlier this week, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the top American diplomat in charge of Asian affairs, praised Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for describing the sexual slavery as "human trafficking," saying it is a "forward-looking" message.
  

The praise contrasted with criticism South Koreans have made of Abe's use of the term "human trafficking" because the term has usually been associated with prostitution in South Korea and Abe's use of it was seen as a deceptive attempt not to acknowledge its responsibility for the atrocity.
  

Russel's remark raised speculation that the U.S. may be shifting to Japan's side on the issue, but the State Department representative stressed that the U.S. policy remains the same.
  

Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mainly from Korea, which was a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. But Japan has long attempted to whitewash the atrocity.
  

The sexual slavery issue has been the biggest thorn in frayed relations between Japan and South Korea, with Seoul demanding Tokyo take steps to address the grievances of elderly Korean victims of the atrocity and Japan refusing to do so. (Yonhap)