Lee warns against NK provocations

President Lee Myung-bak salutes during an Armed Forces Day ceremony at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap

President Lee Myung-bak ordered strong action Wednesday against any North Korean acts of provocation that may increase ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election.

President Lee also expressed his disappointment about the lack of expected economic liberalization measures in the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly meeting.

Pyongyang has in the past tried to influence the South’s elections by raising tensions through military action or hostile rhetoric.

“President Lee said that the nation should stay alert,” Park Jeong-ha, a presidential spokesman, said in a statement.

The comments came days after several North Korean fishing boats crossed the maritime boundary in the West Sea during a National Security Council meeting.

On Friday, several North Korean boats crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) into South Korea’s territory and returned to the North after southern naval vessels fired warning shots. This is the fifth time this month alone that the North’s ships crossed the maritime boundary into the South.

Last week, “Uriminzokkiri” television run by the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea reported on Ahn Cheol-soo after the software millionaire candidate declared an independent presidential bid.

Quoting Ahn as saying, “Sincerity will move the community forward,” the northern TV station aired his news conference.

The North Korean media’s report on Ahn came days after the Uriminzokkiri website accused Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party of having a hard-line North Korea vision.

The website called Park, the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, “a pathetic person anxious to become president,” saying she will be isolated because of her vision.

Earlier this year, North Korean media reported that Park made quite a few pro-North Korean remarks when she visited Pyongyang in August, 2004 as an ordinary citizen, threatening to disclose her conversations with officials there.

This came amid North Korean sympathizers making media headlines in the South, which drew a severe backlash against the leftist Unified Progressive Party.

Watching a series of verbal attacks and North Korean ships’ crossing the maritime boundary, Cheong Wa Dae remained suspicious of North Korea’s motives.

Seoul officials were wary of the North’s tactic of dividing South Korean society, dubbed “a South-South conflict” over North Korean issues, to favor a candidate with intentions of engaging the North.

The security council meeting was convened amid suspicions over North Korea’s attempt to influence the election.

Attending the meeting were Kim Kwan-jin, minister of defense; Yu Woo-ik, minister of unification; Won Se-hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service; and Ahn Ho-young, first vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ahn attended the meeting on behalf of Minister Kim Sung-hwan who is on a trip to the United States. <The Korea Times/Kang Hyun-kyung>

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