The Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) and South Korea on Sunday released a statement saying that Japan should make 'a thorough-going apology' and reparation for its colonial rule, the DPRK's official news agency KCNA reported. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the 'Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty,' the statement appealed to all the Koreans to 'defend the national dignity and force Japan to redress its crime-woven history,' the KCNA reported. The statement was released by the DPRK, South Korea and the Overseas Side Committees for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration, according to the KCNA. The statement asked Japan to 'declare totally null and void' all kinds of illegal treaties in front of the Koreans and the world, which includes the 'Ulsa Five-point Treaty' signed on Nov. 17, 1905 and the 'Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty.' 'Japan should stop unjust discrimination, political persecution and suppression of Koreans in Japan' and 'stop distorting history by whitewashing Japan's history of colonization and its attempt to revive militarism,' said the statement. It stressed in particular that 'Japan should immediately abolish the DPRK-Japan hostile relations and no longer stand in the way of peace and security in Northeast Asia.' The North Side, the South Side and the Overseas Side Committees was set up after the June 15th North-South Joint declaration was signed in 2000 by DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who held a historic meeting and summit talks in Pyongyang. The Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was signed on Aug. 22, 1910 by the Japanese administration of Ito Hirobumi. The then Korean Emperor Sunjong refused to sign on the treaty for it was regarded as a coerced one and humiliation to the nation. The treaty was proclaimed to the public and became effective on Aug. 29, 1910, remembered as the day of national shame, since then Korea had been under the Japanese colonial rule for 35 years until Japan surrendered to the Allies in World War II in 1945. 