CHEONGJU, South Korea -- Former US Rep. Mike Honda will receive an honorary doctorate degree from a South Korean university this week for his efforts to help Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, the school said Thursday.

Cheongju University in the central city of the same name said it will award Honda with the degree in politics in a ceremony Friday in recognition of his contribution to Korea-US relations and his fight for the sexual slavery victims.

After the ceremony, he will also deliver a lecture to students. He also plans to attend a ceremony to unveil a girl's statue symbolizing victims, euphemistically called "comfort women."

Honda, who served as a House member representing California from 2001 to 2017, has been at the forefront of efforts to get Japan to admit and apologize to victims of its sexual enslavement of women for its troops during World War II. Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910-1945.

In 2007, Honda wrote House Resolution 121 and helped it pass through the House unanimously. The resolution urged Japan to formally acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility for the atrocity in a clear and unequivocal manner. (Yonhap)