The Korea Herald

피터빈트

S. Korea's ruling party demands N. Korea stop intervening in election

By 송상호

Published : Nov. 4, 2012 - 21:36

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(Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party on Sunday demanded North Korea stop intervening in the South's upcoming presidential election, saying most South Korean voters would not be moved by the communist nation's propaganda.

   On Saturday, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a powerful party organization, openly called for an opposition victory in the Dec. 19 election, denouncing the Saenuri Party as a "disaster" that brews "all sources of misfortune" for Koreans.

   Saenuri spokesman Ahn Hyoung-hwan said the North has once again revealed its intention to intervene in the election.

   "The North must fear the Saenuri Party coming to power," Ahn said during a press briefing. "They are clearly revealing their longing for the pro-North forces to take power."

   The spokesman declined to identify the so-called pro-North forces, but added they would be the ones to help sustain the dictatorship and oppression in the North.

   Inter-Korean relations have soured under the conservative government of incumbent South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, leading the North to step up it rhetoric against the South's ruling camp and its presidential contender, Park Geun-hye.

   Jeon Gwang-sam, a senior deputy spokesman for the Saenuri Party, accused the North of trying to help its "own family" in the South.

   "This can be interpreted as an intention to actively intervene in the presidential election so as to return the favors to pro-North figures within the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), which has actively supported the third-generation power transfer, and within the Democratic United Party (DUP), which has approved of it in its silence," Jeon said in a statement.

   The UPP is a minor opposition party with alleged links to the communist regime, while the DUP is the South's main opposition party.

   Commenting on the North's statement that an election win by the Saenuri Party would bring "fascist suppression and war," Jeon retorted that "no one other than a handful of pro-North supporters would be stirred by such incitement."

   The deputy spokesman also demanded the North stop intervening in the election and tackle the widely reported human rights abuses in its own country.