North Korea has strongly criticized Japan for its diplomatic stance against the use of the term “sex slaves” in reference to Korean women forced into wartime sexual servitude during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. 

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency issued a commentary on Tuesday to take issue with Japan’s Diplomatic Bluebook that was disclosed earlier this month. In it, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the expression "sex slaves" should not be used to refer to the victims. 

The North said the claim was “burglary nonsense” and an "unbearable insult on all Koreans" and accused Japan of distorting its history of aggression and attempting to avoid its duty to recognize its wrongful past. 

It said the victims of Japan’s wartime sex crimes were never meant to comfort Japanese soldiers but were slaves deprived of not only human dignity, but also basic human rights, including the right to survival.