Abe set to become first Japanese PM to address joint session of US Congress

Shinzo Abe is expected to become the first Japanese prime minister in history to address a joint session of the US Congress, crowning an April visit focused on deepening trade and military ties.
      
Abe hopes to make the speech during a trip to the United States at the end of next month, around Japan's "Golden Week" holiday, diplomatic and legislative sources told AFP.
     
The invitation has been sent, according to a congressional aide and official announcement is expected soon.
      
Few Japanese politicians have ever addressed Congress and none have done so in a coveted joint meeting or session of the Senate and House of Representatives.         

On December 8, 1941 a joint session led to a declaration of war against Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
      
There had been some opposition to the invitation because of Abe's stance on World War II "comfort women."        

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea but also from China, Indonesia and other Asian nations, were forced into sexual slavery during World War II.
      
Abe is accused of embracing a "revisionist" account of events.
      
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye in particular has called for him to do more to address the issue.
      
Japan says it has already apologized, offered financial compensation and psychological help to victims.
      
The speech is expected to echo some of the themes from Abe's July speech to the Australian parliament.
      
Speaking in English, he expressed humility about the "evils and horrors" of Japan's history.
                      
Abe's visit is also likely to push forward talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a...