South Korea on Thursday expressed deep regrets over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s refusal to apologize for his country’s wartime atrocities, including the sexual enslavement of Asian women, during his speech at a joint session of U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

Much to the chagrin of Seoul and Beijing that have demanded Tokyo’s sincere contrition, Abe did not include any apology in the unprecedented speech. He expressed “feelings of deep remorse” over the war, saying Japan’s actions brought “suffering” to Asians.

“His congressional speech could have marked a turning point to achieve true reconciliation and cooperation with the neighboring countries through a right recognition of history,” Noh Kwang-il, the spokesperson for Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

“We express our deep regrets over the fact that there was neither a (right) recognition of history nor a sincere apology in the speech.”

Noh also pointed out that Japan contracted itself by failing to build trust and harmony with the international community, while pledging a “proactive contribution” to world peace.

“Should Japan contribute to world peace, as he stated in his speech, it should forge relations of trust and harmony with the international community through a candid recognition of its past and repentance. Thus, Japan is contradicting itself,” he said.

Seoul has long called on Tokyo to squarely face its past and offer a sincere apology to the 53 surviving victims of Japan’s sexual slavery, viewing the apology as a critical step for the bilateral relationship to move forward.

During his speech, Abe reiterated he would uphold the historical views of his predecessors. But the nationalist leader ignored the mounting calls to apologize to the victims of Japan’s past militarism.

“Post war, we started out on our path bearing in mind feelings of deep remorse over the war. Our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries. We must not avert our eyes from that,” he said. “I will uphold the views expressed by the previous prime ministers in this regard.”

South Korean lawmakers condemned Abe’s speech as “brazen, shameless and inappropriate.”

“Abe has completely missed an opportunity to settle historical issues by not mentioning anything about the issue of sexual slavery and Japan’s past aggression,” said Rep. Kim Eul-dong of the ruling Saenuri Party during a meeting with party lawmakers.

“Our foreign affairs authorities should not budge even an inch to counter Japan’s provocative moves.”

Suh Young-kyo, spokesperson for the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said Abe’s speech triggered South Korea’s outrage by refusing to deal with its history in the congressional speech.

“Those who are blind to the past cannot look at the future,” he said in a commentary. “He delivered a speech as if nothing had ever happened, even as the scars that Japan left (during the colonial era) still live on.”

Before his speech, U.S. lawmakers, human rights activists and others including Lee Yong-soo, a victim of Japan’s sexual enslavement, called on Abe to include a sincere apology in his speech through rallies and media interviews.

But their appeals have fallen on deaf ears as Abe’s speech appears to have been written to appeal largely to the American audience, observers said. The absence of an apology also raised the possibility that he would not include one in the speech he is to deliver in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“His predecessors’ past statements contained expressions such as ‘colonial rule,’ ‘aggression’ and ‘heartfelt apology.’ But Abe’s speech used such expressions as ‘suffering’ and ‘remorse’ without mentioning any apology, which runs counter to what South Korea and China have persistently demanded,” said Lee Jung-hwan, Japan expert at Kookmin University.

“The speech, however, included expressions that might have appealed to the U.S. audience such as ‘democratic principles’ in the beginning. I sensed that the speech appeared to have been tailored to appeal to Americans.”

Abe’s speech was also met with criticism from some U.S. lawmakers.

Rep. Mike Honda, who has long called for Japan’s apology for its wartime atrocities, said Abe’s refusal to apologize was an “insult” to wartime victims.

“It is shocking and shameful that Prime Minister Abe continues to evade his government’s responsibility for the systematic atrocity that was perpetrated by the Japanese Imperial Army against the so-called ‘comfort women’ during World War II, by not offering an apology,” he said in a statement.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)