N. Korean state media stops slandering S. Korean president

By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has recently stopped criticizing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in its state media in what could be a subtle signal that Pyongyang wants to improve soured ties with Seoul.
The Korean Central News Agency and other state media had carried more than a thousand articles in recent months, most of which accused Lee of being a "traitor."
The harsh words were a reminder of tension on the divided Korean Peninsula over the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 South Koreans.
Still, the North drastically reduced its smear campaign against Lee before and after top nuclear envoys of the two Koreas met on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Indonesia last month.
The meeting later paved the way for rare talks in New York between North Korea and the U.S. on how to resume long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.
The North's media has not released any reports slandering Lee since last Friday, according to an analysis of its reports by Yonhap News Agency.
The North went one step further on Tuesday morning by deleting the word "traitor" from a rerun of a radio broadcast first aired in June when referring to the conservative South Korean leader.
The subtle change in the North Korean media report comes as South Korea is preparing to send emergency relief supplies worth 5 billion won (US$4.7 million) to North Korea to help it recover from recent devastating floods.
The rare aid offer may help ease tension and set the stage for further dialogue between the two Koreas, which still remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
"The North's move not to use harsh language represents its commitment to holding dialogue with South Korea and easing tension," said Paik Hak-soon, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, an independent think tank near Seoul.
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