N. Korea urges Japan to face up to history of wartime aggression
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to media after a meeting at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan, May 21. Reuters-Yonhap
North Korea called on Japan on Monday to face up to history over its 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering issuing a message marking the 80th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.
Japan's Sankei Shimbun reported last week that Ishiba's message would not be different from the 70th anniversary statement issued by then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
In 2015, Abe reaffirmed Tokyo's past apologies over its wartime aggression but did not give a fresh apology, saying that future generations should not have to keep apologizing for the sufferings caused by Japan's military past.
The director of the Institute for Japan Studies of North Korea's foreign ministry condemned Japan for trying to pass the 80th anniversary of its surrender without seriously reflecting on its wartime history, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
"This is an unpardonable mockery and insult upon the peoples of the DPRK and other Asian countries that are suffering from the hideous crimes of the Japanese imperialists," the director said, using the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea claimed, "No statute of limitations is applicable even after 80 years and 800 years" when it comes to Japan's war crimes.
"It is the unavoidable moral responsibility of Japan, the war criminal state, and its duty before international law to face up to the history and liquidate its past," the North's official said.