North Korea is calling on Japan to offer a sincere apology and compensation to the Korean victims of its wartime forced labor. 

The criticism from the Minju Choson, a newspaper of the North Korean Cabinet, came on Tuesday amid growing tension between Seoul and Tokyo following Japan’s economic retaliation over South Korean court rulings on Japan’s wartime forced labor issues. 

It said Koreans mobilized to work for Japan were treated inhumanely and overworked with some even buried alive. 

It slammed Japan for trying to "shamelessly and unethically" cover up its past crimes, and urged the country to realize its unavoidable legal and ethical obligations over the issues.