Mr Abe's comments drew sharp criticism from China and South Korea in particular, where many of the women came from.

Many historians believe Japan compelled up to 200,000 women - who also came from the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan - to become sex slaves during the war.

But some Japanese conservatives argue that the women were professional prostitutes who had been paid for their services, and any abuses were carried out by private contractors rather than the military.

Mr Abe's comments about the use of coercion were made as the US Congress began considering a non-binding resolution, which calls for Tokyo to make an unequivocal apology for the so-called comfort women.

Officials in Japan reject the idea that the prime minister should be told how to apologise by politicians from overseas, our correspondent says.

They say the draft resolution does not recognise the efforts that have been made to compensate the former comfort women.

Mr Abe's latest remarks in parliament have been made to clear up any misunderstanding and not as a result of outside pressure, they stress.

日本首相安倍晋三现已在国会就二战时期日本强征女性为慰安妇的做法做出道歉。

安倍告诉国会：“我现在以首相的身份就此（慰安妇问题）道歉。”

在安倍就此问题做出道歉之前，他曾因抛出“慰安妇是否为强迫暂无定论”这一言论而受到亚洲邻国谴责。

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