PYONGYANG, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday denounced Japan for distorting history and instilling false ideas into Japanese children's mind through textbooks for high school students.

The daily Minju Joson (Democratic Korea) said in a commentary that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan recently "opened to public the results of screening of textbooks for high schools", which said Tok Islets of Korea are part of the territory of Japan and that they were illegally occupied by others.

"Japan has long pursued the ambition for militarist overseas expansion and Korea is the primary target of overseas aggression and Tok Islets are like the gateway to invading Korea. Hence, the Japanese reactionaries are working so hard to grab the islets in a bid to create favorable conditions for overseas aggression," said the commentary.

It said "the Japanese reactionaries are keen to imbue the younger generation with the distorted view on history and use them as a shock brigade for overseas aggression which their forefathers failed to realize."

"It is a crime to implant into their minds the view on history peppered with lies, distortions and reactionary ideas," it added.

Japan has been claiming sovereignty over the Tok Islets which both DPRK and South Korea say are historical territory of Korea.

Japan forcibly annexed Korea in early 20th century and enslaved Koreans for nearly 40 years during its brutal occupation and colonial rule of the peninsula.