Pyongyang, August 16 (KCNA) -- Members of south Korean civic and public organizations including the Council for the Solution of the Issue of the Volunteers' Corps on August 12 demanded an immediate settlement of the issue of the comfort women for the imperial Japanese army.

Dozens of years have passed since the victims who were forced into sexual slavery for the imperial Japanese army in the past testified to the crimes in which the Japanese imperialists imposed upon them painful wounds hardly healable in their lifetime and struggled in demand of the settlement of the issue of comfort women, they noted, and continued:

Organizations of different circles and even international bodies have staged actions in demand of the substantial settlement of the issue such as the institution of a law requiring the Japanese government to make apology and reparation for the crimes related to comfort women and the prevention of the recurrence of similar ones.

But the Japanese government has evaded its responsibility, instead of admitting its crimes.

Victims are dying one after another with their grudges unsettled, they recalled, stressing the need to settle the issue of comfort women at an early date.

They urged the Japanese Diet to institute the law at an early date and take measures to probe the truth about the crimes related to sexual slavery and make an apology and reparation for them.