Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se at the UN on Wednesday lambasted Japan's attempts to whitewash its World War II atrocities.
Yun was delivering a keynote speech at the 25th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
"Without repenting past wrongdoings, a brighter future will not be secured," Yun said. "Such an attitude is an affront to humanity and disregards the historical truth. In addition, it is a direct challenge to consistent recommendations to Japan made by various UN mechanisms for the last 20 years."
Yun did not mention Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by name but referred to those responsible for denying Japan's past wrongdoings as "some Japanese political leaders."
The foreign minister described the forced mobilization of women to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II as "the forgotten holocaust."
Yun said the issue of sexual slavery is "not only a bilateral issue between Japan and other victimized countries -- including Korea, China, the Netherlands and various Southeast Asian countries -- but is also a universal human rights issue, an unresolved issue still haunting us today."