PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday slammed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for terming "comfort women" as "victims of human trafficking."

Answering a question after his speech at Harvard Kennedy School on April 27, Abe claimed that those women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II were "victims of human trafficking."

"What Abe uttered was an intolerable insult to the victims," the DPRK's official KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

"The hideous crimes committed by Japan against humanity during its occupation of Korea and World War II are stark historical facts that can neither be concealed nor be covered up," the spokesman added.

He criticized Abe and other Japanese right-wing conservative forces for working hard to totally negate their country's past crimes and evade responsibility for them through such crafty wordplay.

Abe's reckless remarks showed "moral vulgarity and impudence of Japan," added the spokesman.

He urged the Abe-led Japanese authorities to "drop their anachronistic way of thinking, apologize and make reparation for all the inhuman crimes including sexual slavery as demanded by the international community."