North Korea says it plans to take all possible measures to receive compensation from Japan for its wartime atrocities.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement on Sunday that renouncing Japan's past colonial rule was not just a matter of humanitarian importance but also a political one that must be resolved as swiftly as possible.

The KCNA also accused Japan of forcing some 8.4 million innocent Korean civilians into labor and military service, one million of whom were killed during the colonial rule.

The paper warned if Japan does not provide necessary compensation for the damages it had caused, it would have to pay a heavier price in the future.