The French daily Le Monde says South Korea should recognize the pro-independence movement of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung during Japanese colonialism.

In an article on Korea's tortured past and recent efforts to rectify it, the report stressed that Seoul should acknowledge Kim's anti-Japanese campaign.

The paper said former South Korean President Park Chung-hee, a graduate of the Japanese military academy in Manchuria, constantly denied that he attacked anti-Japanese rebels while serving as a Japanese army officer.

Le Monde also accused the nation's elite who collaborated during Japanese rule of trying to escape blame through implementing anti-communist policies.

Earlier this week, noted historian Kang Man-gil angered conservatives in South Korea by saying Kim's founding of a guerrilla army against the Japanese qualifies as a pro-independence struggle.