Pyongyang, August 13 (KCNA) -- Two decades have passed since the issue of comfort women for the Imperial Japanese Army was put on the agenda of discussion in international arena in 1991. It was a hideous sexual slavery enforced by the Japanese imperialists during their colonial military rule over Korea.

However, Japan has not yet made any state apology and reparation to the victims.

This is a mockery and challenge to the Korean people and world conscience calling for Japan's settlement of its past crimes.

The above-said sexual slavery was an organized crime committed by the state of Japan and a hideous crime against humanity which allows no application of the statute of limitation.

According to the Constitution of the Japanese state, the then Japanese king had all state powers such as judicature, administration and legislation and the right to command the units of the Imperial Japanese Army dispatched overseas in his hand. He let the staff of the dispatched forces undertake the operations for abducting women of foreign countries and made sure that the Ministry of War issued instructions to carry them out if necessary.

According to the goals set by the military, women were abducted from Korea and other Asian countries en masse.

As the Japanese publication "King's army and Korean comfort women" said, the Japanese government and military mapped out a plan to ensure one comfort woman went round to every 29 soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and different kinds of laws and documents were adopted to implement it.

It was proved by wartime cables and documents that women were abducted by the order of the military.

This clearly tells that the Japanese king and its government and military which acted by his order and approval were the main culprit of the said sexual slavery.

Pursuant to the plan conceived by the state of Japan to satisfy the sexual greed of soldiers of the Imperial Army, operations for abducting women reminiscent of medieval slave-hunting were committed openly in Korea, turning it into a veritable hell threatened with abduction of women.

As many as 200 000 Korean women were drafted to the areas under the Japanese imperialists' occupation and those areas where their troops were stationed. 146 000 of them died in alien lands.

The above-said sexual slavery was the most despicable and cruel crime in human history as it was committed by the Japanese government, military, government-general in Korea and police under it.

Japanese politicians, however, are evading the responsibility to settle the Japanese imperialists' blood-stained history of Korean aggression and their sexual slavery and even whitewashing them, though they know well about the crimes.

They have made neither apology nor reparation for the sexual slavery but are totally denying and distorting the historical facts.

It is nearly a century since the issue of the comfort women surfaced and it is 20 years since the issue was brought up for discussion in international arena but this issue has not yet found any solution entirely due to the shameless attitude of Japan.

Japan's persistent denial of the above-said issue is aimed at covering up the crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in the last century and evading the settlement of its past forever.

Japan's redressing of its past wrongs is not a matter which allows it to go without redeeming them. Because it is a matter which Japan should settle without fail weather the DPRK-Japan relations are improved or not and a political, moral and legal obligation it assumed before humankind and history.

It is the view of the fair international public opinion that the Japanese government should make state reparation for the sexual slavery in a responsible manner.

Japan has to fully open data on all the crimes committed against the Korean nation to the public and take urgent measures for fulfilling political, moral and legal responsibilities including formal apology and reparation.