North Korea was quick to denounce Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Second World War anniversary speech on Friday.
 
According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, on Friday evening a foreign ministry spokesman criticized his speech for not carrying a sincere apology.
 
The statement said that Abe's speech to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II did not include acknowledgement of, or an apology for, his country's past aggression.
 
The North said the attempt of Japan's right wing conservative forces to cover up the country's sin-filled past has become even more explicit.
 
The spokesman said it is an intolerable mockery of the Korean people and an act of deceiving the international community for Japan to talk about the future, responsibility and contribution in the global community, without apologizing for its atrocious aggression and colonial occupation.
 
The spokesman stressed that Japan must first gain trust from North Korea and other neighboring countries by resolving its past crimes, including crimes against humanity perpetrated on the Korean people.
 
The North Korean foreign ministry spokesman also said that colonial Japan stole the Korean standard time and thereby justified the North's move to push back its standard time 30 minutes later than South Korea starting Saturday.