UNITED NATIONS –  North Korea says Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are “recklessly spouting rubbish” by protesting the sentencing of a Canadian pastor to life in prison with hard labor for what Pyongyang calls crimes against the state.

A statement shared by North Korea’s mission to the United Nations on Tuesday says Canada’s government is “obliged to make an apology” for the crimes it says Hyeon Soo Lim committed.

Lim was sentenced last week after being accused of trying to use religion to destroy the North Korean system. Trudeau’s comments followed.

Lim’s relatives have said the pastor, who is in his 60s, traveled in January on a regular humanitarian mission to North Korea.

A spokeswoman for Canada’s Global Affairs Department has said Canada is “dismayed at the unduly harsh sentence.”