The Japanese delegate blustered that the human rights performance in the DPRK should be called into question at the UN General Assembly and other fora, asserting that "the issue of Japanese abductees" still remains unsettled and talking about "non-implementation" of someone and his "lack of specific actions."

Japan persistently peddles the "abduction issue" whenever an opportunity presents itself in the international arena. This is a despicable and disgusting behavior intended to cover up its hideous crimes committed by Japan against humanity in the past at any cost and dodge the settlement of them.

Japan is so shameless as to use the "abduction issue" as a lever for diverting elsewhere the international community's criticism of its stand on the issue of settling its past crimes.

As far as human rights are concerned, Japan is absolutely not qualified to talk about them.

The Japanese imperialists perpetrated thrice-cursed crimes against the Korean people during their occupation of Korea, thus leaving an indelible stain on history as a war criminal state which committed unheard-of human rights abuses.

They forcibly drafted at least 8.4 million young and middle-aged Koreans, forcing them to do medieval slave labor or using them as cannon fodder. They brutally killed more than one million Koreans.

They took away 200 000 Korean women, ranging from girls in their teens to married women, to battle fields as sexual slaves for their aggressor forces, sacrificing their youth and violating their chastity. They unhesitatingly perpetrated such criminal acts as brutally killing those women in a bid to conceal their despicable crimes.

The angry voices of those who have suffered mental and physical pain for more than half a century after the war due to the crimes committed by the Japanese imperialists are heard and the international community is growing vocal demanding the probe into the truth about their past crimes, state apology ad reparation for them.

Nevertheless, Japan is deceiving the world, while working hard to shirk the responsibility for the hideous crimes committed by it against humanity in the past.

Japan has not yet redeemed its hideous crimes committed against humanity though 65 years have passed since its defeat but is keeping mum about all of them and painting itself as a victim, peddling the already settled "abduction issue" whenever an opportunity presents itself. This is the height of effrontery.

The international community had better immediately call into question the hideous human rights abuses committed by Japan in the past and its refusal to settle them when dealing with human rights issues.