A U.S. expert on Korean Peninsula affairs says the United States will not stand by idly in the event Japan seeks to revise a 1993 statement that acknowledged and apologized for the forced recruitment of sex slaves by Japan's military.

Larry Niksch, a former researcher of the Congressional Research Service, made the remark during a symposium held in Congress on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula.

Niksch noted that when the Japanese government sought to revise in 2006 the 1993 statement issued by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, Tom Schieffer, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan at the time, and the White House actively warned Japan against such a move and blocked Tokyo from making the revisions.

Niksch added that based on historical facts, it is evident that South Korea will win in the event the Dokdo issue is taken to the International Court of Justice and thus there is no need for Seoul to rigidly respond to the matter regarding the islets in the East Sea.

He was quick to add, however, that Seoul and Tokyo need to study how they will pursue their ties in the event large amounts of resources are found near Dokdo or an armed conflict erupts between Japan and North Korea.