President Lee Myung-bak presided over a security ministers’ meeting Wednesday to assess the situation in North Korea and discuss how to deal with Pyongyang’s attempts to affect the South’s presidential election, the presidential spokesman said.

Lee told Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik and other top security officials to ensure preparedness for armed provocations by the North and to study measures to fend off Pyongyang’s “undisguised attempt” to influence the Dec. 19 election, his spokesman Park Jeong-ha said.

North Korea is one of the most divisive issues in South Korean society, with liberals calling for greater reconciliation efforts and conservatives calling for stands on principle, and Pyongyang often attempts to influence elections in the South by criticizing or praising candidates, mainly over their stances on the communist nation.

In the run-up to the presidential poll, Pyongyang has stepped up its denunciation of Seoul’s conservative ruling party and presidential contender. On Saturday, the North denounced South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party as a “disaster” that brews “all sources of misfortune” for Koreans.

The meeting came hours before Lee departs on a trip to Indonesia and Thailand.

Lee will co-chair the Bali Democracy Forum set for Thursday and Friday on the Indonesian resort island, together with host Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The forum is expected to draw representatives from about 70 countries, including about 11 heads of state.

Indonesia founded the high-level annual forum in 2008 to promote democracy in the region through sharing exemplary practices and experiences among Asia-Pacific nations.

A keynote speech Lee plans to deliver at Thursday’s opening ceremony is expected to stress the importance of democracy as a universal value of mankind and underscore the need to promote democracy for the sake of international peace, safety and prosperity, officials said.

On the sidelines, Lee will hold a summit with Yudhoyono ― one of the foreign leaders with whom Lee has developed a close friendship ― about wide-ranging issues aimed at deepening the strategic partnership between the sides that are marking 40 years of relations next year, officials said.

On Friday, Lee will head to Bangkok for summit talks with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Lee will be the first Korean president to make an official bilateral visit to Thailand in 31 years. Some of his predecessors have visited the country in between, but all of those trips were to attend multilateral conferences, such as ASEAN plus three summits, not official bilateral visits.

Saturday’s summit is expected to center on ways to expand trade, investment and other substantial cooperation. The sides also plan to sign a memorandum of understanding calling for upgrading their ties to a “strategic partnership,” officials said. (Yonhap News)