NKorea wants Japanese apology for colonial rule

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea called on Japan to offer an apology and compensate for its harsh colonial rule, days after Tokyo apologized to South Korea for its annexation of Korea but did not mention North Korea. North Koreans harbor deep resentment against Japan for mobilizing Koreans for forced labor and sex slaves during Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula. North Korea — which does not have diplomatic relations with Japan — held a meeting Thursday at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang in an apparent bid to press for compensation from Japan. Pumping their fists into the air, North Koreans chanted slogans such as "Compensate," and "Withdraw," according to footage aired by television news agency APTN. Hong Song Ok, chairman of the North's Committee handling the issue of former sex slaves and victims of forced labor, also accused Japan of trying to cover up its past crimes. "The Japanese government coldly refuses and ignores the demands of our victims until now," Hong said at the People's Palace of Culture — where portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his late father Kim Il Sung hang together. Colonial rule over Korea ended in 1945 when Japan surrendered to the United States at the end of World War II. The Korean peninsula was later divided into separately governed regions resulting in a communist North and capitalist South. On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized for the "enormous damage and suffering" for his country's occupation of Korea and expressed "deep remorse" in a statement approved by his Cabinet. The statement apologized specifically to South Korea, in contrast to earlier apologies by Japan for wartime actions made broadly to the country's Asian neighbors. Tokyo has a long history of discord with North Korea, which has admitted kidnapping its citizens in the past and conducted long-range rocket tests over Japan's main island. — AP