PYONGYANG - A leading newspaper of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday accused Japan of involvement in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary that Japan's involvement in the Korean War by providing strategic maps of Korea for US forces "amounts to a very grave war crime and an unpardonable crime against humanity."

"If it were not for these maps, Korea would not have remained divided for more than half a century," said the commentary.

During the war, Japan offered the United States its territory as logistic, supply and sortie bases and also dispatched military personnel to the Korean front to help, it said.

Japan is increasingly depending on the US in military, said the commentary, adding that if a second Korean War broke out, Japan would join the war again.

The commentary warned that if Japan took part in a second Korean War, the DPRK would certainly force it to pay not only for crimes it committed in the past but also for those during the Korean War and the second Korean War.

A joint military exercise between the United States and Japan is taking place from December 3-10, with the participation of some 44,500 personnel.