Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's upcoming trip to the United States, including his congressional speech, is an important chance for him to address historical tensions with neighboring countries, a senior South Korean official said Wednesday.
  

Abe is scheduled to make a weeklong trip to the U.S. later this month. The trip has drawn keen attention as Abe has been invited to address a joint session of Congress, an honor that would make him the first-ever Japanese prime minister to do so.
  

"I hope there will be a good statement, a good message that helps improve the complicated situation in Northeast Asia, including relations between the two countries," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "This is an important chance and opportunity for Abe, too."
  

The official also said he hopes Abe will offer an apology to neighboring countries, apparently referring to the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women for its troops during World War II, the biggest thorn in frayed ties between Seoul and Tokyo.
  

But chances appear low for Abe to offer a clear-cut apology on the issue.
  

In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Abe stuck to a vague statement seen as carefully calculated not to deviate from his administration's existing position not to unequivocally acknowledge Japan's responsibility for the atrocity.
  

Critics have claimed that Abe is unworthy of the honor of speaking at a joint meeting of Congress because he has attempted to whitewash Japan's militaristic past and wartime atrocities, especially the sexual slavery issue, refusing to acknowledge the country's responsibility and compensate victims.
  

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 whitewash the atrocity. (Yonhap)