N. Korea demands Japan PM's official apology for colonization

SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has urged Japanese Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama to officially apologize and compensate for Japan's past colonization of
the Korean Peninsula, saying his earlier remarks in support of a 1995 apology are
not sufficient.

The weekly Tongil Sinbo, published Saturday, referred to Hatoyama's recent
statement that he would abide by the so-called Murayama pledge. In the pledge,
then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama acknowledged that Japan inflicted
tremendous damage and suffering throughout Asia and other countries during its
colonial rule and aggression in the first half of the 20th century.
"What the Korean people and all humankind want is not the repetition of
noncommittal words of regret but a thorough apology and compensation for the
bloody past," the Tongil Sinbo said. Japan occupied the Korean Peninsula from
1910 until 1945, when Japan surrendered to the western allied forces in World War
II.
The article cited the millions of Korean men and women forced by Japan to fight
in the war, do hard labor or serve as sex slaves, as well as the massacres of
civilians during the colonial era.
"Crime cannot evade punishment. If it tries to evade its blood-soaked criminal
past with a few words of regret, it is impossible for Japan to expect a bright
future," the article said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in
Pyongyang earlier this month, told South Korean and Japanese leaders that the
North was hoping to improve its ties with both their countries.
The October election of Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, ended
a half-century of conservative rule in Tokyo.
North Korea and Japan have not established diplomatic relations since Korea's
liberation from Japan. South Korean established ties with its island neighbor in
1965, a contentious move at the time.
Attempts to build Pyongyang-Tokyo relations have ended in failure due to a
dispute over North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens in the late 1970s and
early 80s and the ongoing North Korean nuclear standoff.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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