Chinese and South Korean experts will jointly work to protect documents on women who were victims of sex slavery by Japanese forces during World War II and to register the documents on the Memory of the World, a UNESCO program aimed at preserving documents of value.

Su Zhiliang, director of center for sex slave research at the Shanghai Normal University, said the experts are now in the process of gathering relevant materials pertaining to the sex slavery issue before they present their recommendation to the UN body.

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"The proposal will help preserve the historic records and provide materials for people and experts in the future to understand, research, rethink and condemn," Su said.

In a recently concluded forum on sex slaves jointly organized by the Shanghai Normal University and Sung Kyun Kwan University of South Korea, experts from China and South Korea were joined by their Japanese counterparts to confer on ways of bolstering teamwork and research.

During the forum, Matsumoto Kan, Japanese representative of a non-governmental group said, "Because of misleading by Japanese officials and media, many ordinary people, especially the younger generation, have grown suspicious toward history. However, denying history is unwise."

Government records as well as the testimonies of victims and witnesses establish the fact that the Japanese government and its military had a direct hand in the abduction and trafficking of thousands of women who were forced to be sex slaves of Japanese soldiers.

It is estimated that around 200,000 women were forced into sex slavery by the Japanese forces during the last world war.

Less than 20 of these women who admitted to being former sex slaves are still alive.

"It's the final moment for us to demand justice and to preserve the historic materials," said Su.