SEOUL: North Korea on Friday demanded an apology and compensation from Japan for its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the peninsula, denouncing the annexation as "state terrorism."

"Japan can never shirk its obligation to make an apology and reparations to the DPRK (North Korea) for its crime-woven past," the foreign ministry said in a statement marking the 100th anniversary of the annexation.

"It should make an immediate apology and reparations for the hideous crimes committed against the Korean people," it said. "If it fails to do so, it can never stand upright in the international community."

The statement claimed that more than one million Koreans were killed and 8.4 million others were thrown into wartime battle and slave labour, while 200,000 Korean women were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers.

Pyongyang`s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also issued a lengthy indictment denouncing the annexation as "state terrorism committed by the Japanese authorities."

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who has sought stronger ties with South Korea, issued a fresh apology on August 10, expressing deep regret over what he referred to as the "suffering" inflicted during the colonial rule of Korea.

BDST: 10:30 HRS, August 20, 2010