A US Congressional committee passed a resolution on Tuesday pressing for an apology from Japan to WWII victims of sex slavery.

Japan’s reaction to this has been at best a cautious one. An estimated 200,000 women were forced into sexual slavery during World War II, for Japan’s imperial army.

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the non-binding resolution Tuesday, by overwhelming majority, demanding that Japan apologize to the hundreds of thousands of WWII “comfort women.”

The document urges Japan to “formally acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner” for the coercion of women into sexual slavery.

The Japanese media reported that the country’s government avoided making an immediate reaction, quoting Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki.

“It is up to each country what its parliament has to do. We have already shown our own stance on such occasions as Prime Minister Abe's visit to the United States in April, and there is nothing for us to say in addition,” Jiji Press quoted Shiozaki as saying.

Shiozaki emphasized that this resolution would not affect Japan-US relations.

The Japanese government’s attitude towards the coercion of women into sexual slavery during WWII for the Japanese troops has been a topic of heated debate before.

Earlier this year, Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe caused an uproar when he said there was no evidence that Japan had actually forced Asian women into sexual slavery.

Following ample international criticism, Abe apologized and stated he supported a 1993 statement acknowledging his country’s involvement in the setting up of brothels for its Army during the war.

The non-binding resolution accuses Japan of attempting to “dilute or rescind” the aforementioned 1993 statement.