Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Wed, May 23, 2012
Archive Search

Lee Says North Korea Trying to Sway South Korea Polls
February 22, 2012

Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

Seoul. North Korea is trying to incite divisions within South Korea to influence elections later this year but the tactic will not work, the South’s President Lee Myung-Bak said on Wednesday.

Lee however said the South is ready to talk to its neighbor with an “open heart” if Pyongyang is also willing to talk sincerely.

The North has fiercely criticized Lee’s conservative government as “traitors” in the run-up to a general election in the South in April and a presidential poll in December.

“The North is trying to influence the election by sparking various feuds within the country (South Korea),” the president told a press conference marking the fourth anniversary this week of his inauguration.

“The South’s voters are not swayed by such things. There is nothing to be gained for the North by creating conflicts in the South.”

Lee scrapped a “sunshine” policy of aid and engagement practised by previous center-left governments. He linked major aid to nuclear disarmament, a stance which infuriated Pyongyang.

His government has said there is a “window of opportunity” for better relations following the death of the North’s longtime leader Kim Jong-Il, and the takeover by his son Jong-Un.

Jong-Un’s regime has however rejected several offers of dialogue from Seoul.

Lee reiterated that the North’s society was going through great changes but did not elaborate. “North Korea is at an opportune time for change but we need to wait a little while,” he said.

In the latest incident following two years of high tensions, the North’s military threatened a possible attack in retaliation for a South Korean artillery exercise near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

Monday’s drill passed without incident.

Agence France-Presse