S. Korea expects N. Korea to ramp up anti-Seoul rhetoric

SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is expected to intensify its campaign to bash the administration of President Lee Myung-bak in order to cement internal unity under its young leader and to widen social fissures in South Korea ahead of major elections, an official said Wednesday. Pyongyang's criticism of the South is not new, but it has increased sharply in intensity and quantity in recent weeks, with state media sending a wave of articles full of abusive language and hatred of Lee and other top officials. The country's Rodong Sinmun newspaper called Lee a "deranged dog" in an article earlier this week. The communist regime has also been organizing massive public rallies against the South. On the surface, the North appears to be protesting a South Korean military unit's slogan against new North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his late father Kim Jong-il. But analysts say the hysterical reaction is more aimed at hardening internal unity under the new leader believed to be in his late 20s. North Korea has long used fear of outside attacks to tighten its control of the people. On Tuesday, Lee held a security ministers' meeting and discussed the situation related to the North, including the possibility of the regime attempting to cause social division in the South along ideological lines ahead of April's general elections and December's presidential vote. North Korea is one of the most divisive issues in South Korean society, with liberals calling for greater reconciliation efforts and conservatives calling for principles. In the past, Pyongyang used its propaganda outlets to influence elections in the South by criticizing or praising candidates mainly over their stances on the North. "We expect North Korea to strengthen the level of its denunciation campaign to divide national consensus in the South in the run-up to next month's general elections and the presidential vote at the end of the year," a presidential official said. But chances of outright armed provocations by the North are not high, officials said, as the prospects of resuming six-party nuclear disarmament talks have heightened following a food-for-nuclear-freeze deal last week between Pyongyang and Washington. (END)