Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused again Tuesday to apologize for the country's wartime sexual enslavement of women, continuing a play with words to circumvent calls for an unequivocal apology.
  

"I am deeply pained to think about the comfort women who experienced immeasurable pain and suffering as a result of victimization due to human trafficking," Abe said during joint news conference with U.S. President Barack Obama, using a euphemistic term for sex slaves.
  

"This is a feeling that I share equally with my predecessors," he said in response to a question whether he is willing to use the press conference as a chance to apologize for the sexual slavery issue. It was the first question to Abe during the conference.
  

He went on to say that "women's dignity and basic human rights have often been infringed upon during wars" throughout the 20th century, a remark that could be seen as meaning that Japan is not the only violator of women's rights.
  

The words, "deeply pained," are one of the expressions that Abe has used in order not to mention "apology" when it comes to the sexual slavery issue. Another expression is that his "heart aches" when thinking of the sexual slavery victims.
  

Abe used that expression Monday during a discussion with Harvard University students.
  

"When it comes to the comfort women issue, my heart aches when I think about those people who were victimized by human trafficking and who were subject to immeasurable pain and suffering beyond description," Abe said Monday.
  

The selection of the term "human trafficking," instead of sexual slavery, was also seen as an attempt to evade Japan's responsibility because the term is usually associated in South Korea and some other Asian nations with private prostitution.
  

Abe's word play dashed hope for him to issue a clear apology when he addresses Congress on Wednesday.
  

Historians estimate that up to 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 water down the atrocity.
  

Such efforts have intensified after Abe came to power.
  

Abe's cabinet, for example, angered South Korea last year with its attempt to "review" the Kono Statement of apology. Though Japan later said it still stands by the apology, the move was seen as an attempt to undermine the apology's credibility.
  

His government also came under strong criticism last year after pressuring an American publisher to revise a description of the sexual slavery issue in a school textbook in an apparent attempt to water down the atrocity.
  

Wednesday's address would make Abe the first prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress.
  

Critics have said Abe is unworthy of the honor because he has attempted to whitewash Japan's militaristic past and wartime atrocities, especially the sexual slavery, refusing to acknowledge the country's responsibility and compensate victims.
  

In front of Congress, about 200 people from South Korea, the U.S. and China held a rally urging Abe to apologize. Those attending the rally included a surviving sexual slavery victim, Lee Yong-soo, and a South Korean lawmaker, Kim Jong-hoon.
  

"Abe keeps lying that they never took (comfort women) by force, but I'm a living witness who was taken to Japan's kamikaze unit in Taiwan at age 15," Lee told the rally. "If he has a little bit of conscience left, Abe should formally apologize and make legal compensation."
  

Brian Becker, executive director of ANSWER Coalition, a major anti-war and civil rights group, urged Abe to stop playing "word games."
  

"We can't forget the past because if we do, it will repeat," he said. "So Prime Minister Abe needs to take full responsibility, not play word games, but actually take full accountability and responsibility for those crimes, to apologize, to compensate victims and to be able to say this will never ever happen again."
  

Also Tuesday, Korean-American organizations ran a full-page ad in the Washington Post in the form of an "open letter" to the peoples of the U.S. and Japan, urging Abe to learn from Germany and offer a clear apology for wartime crimes.
  

"There is no place better than the U.S. Capitol for Abe to accept the Japanese Imperial government's role in crimes against humanity during World War II, and to offer a clear and unequivocal apology to all victims," the letter said.
  

"We, the people of all colors, sincerely hope that Japan will overcome its shameful past by facing the historical facts, not by hiding or covering them up, and become a true champion in the global community," it said.
  

The newspaper also said in an editorial that Abe should include "Japan's understanding of and remorse for its wartime offenses" in his congressional speech on Wednesday and a statement he is preparing to issue in August to mark the 70th anniversary of World War II. (Yonhap)