North speaks out against Saenuri Party

North Korea on Saturday openly called for an opposition victory in South Korea’s upcoming presidential election, accusing President Lee Myung-bak’s conservative government of ruining inter-Korean relations.

The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a powerful party organization, denounced South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party as a “disaster” that brews “all sources of misfortune” for Koreans.

“If Saenuri Party, a group of obsolete conservatives, takes the office, it would make the South Korean society and inter-Korean relations the same as that under the Lee Myung-bak administration,” the committee said in a statement. “It is apparent that [its election win] would bring fascist suppression and war.”

The statement was carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a report, monitored in Seoul.

With the South’s presidential election nearing, North Korea’s propaganda outlets have recently stepped up their rhetoric against South Korea’s ruling camp and its presidential contender, Park Geun-hye.

The 60-year-old Park, who aspires to become South Korea’s first female president, has been in a tight race with Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and software mogul-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo.

There are speculations that the two male contenders may form an alliance before the election to boost their chances against Park. Park’s late father and former President Park Chung Hee is a rallying point for South Korean conservatives ahead of the Dec. 19 election.

“Saenuri Party has pushed for deceptive ‘national unity,’ ‘reform,’ and ‘differentiation’ from the Lee Myung-bak government,” the North’s committee said, calling it “ugly.”

Yonhap