Anchor: The Japanese consul general in the U.S. city of Atlanta denies his alleged remarks that the victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery were in fact “paid prostitutes.” North Atlanta’s "Reporter Newspapers" released the recording of its previous interview with Takashi Shinozuka.
Our Kim Soyon has more.

Report: Speaking to local news media in Atlanta, Japanese consul general Takashi Shinozuka said that he never referred to the victims as "paid prostitutes."

According to Atlanta-based WABE on Wednesday, Shinozuka reversed his statement, saying he only denied the forced nature of what he referred to as comfort women.

"Reporter Newspapers" is defending the veracity of its earlier story. The news agency released the recording of its controversial interview with Shinozuka on June 16th.

[Sound bite: Takashi Shinozuka, Japanese Consul General in Atlanta (English)]
"...in some countries, we have girls who decide to go to take this job to help their family."

Mayor John Ernst of Brookhaven, a small city in the suburbs of Atlanta where a statue of a girl commemorating the sex slavery victims will be erected, has also testified that the Japanese diplomat had described the women as prostitutes in a private meeting. 
 
Cho June-hyuck, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that it is unbelievable that a high ranking diplomat would make such inappropriate remarks that go against the international community’s consensus that the issue is about wartime sexual violence.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry strongly criticized the remarks made by Shinozuka saying they show once again that some Japanese people still refuse to squarely face history.
 
The Japanese diplomat's controversial comment has also triggered strong protest from the ethnic Korean community.
Kim Soyon, KBS World Radio News.