Koreas at brink of war, President Lee 'fascist dictator,' says North

SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday that inter-Korean relations
are now at the brink of war after President Lee Myung-bak's first year in office,
criticizing Lee's "confrontational" policy and calling him a "fascist dictator."

Two days before Lee celebrates his first anniversary, North Korean state media
stepped up vitriolic denunciations against the conservative president who has set
the North's denuclearization as a precondition to any further cross-border
investment.
The Lee government has not shipped food or fertilizer aid to North Korea for the
first time since 1999.
After a year of deeply frozen ties, Pyongyang revved up its bellicose rhetoric
against Seoul in recent weeks, threatening a naval clash along the western
inter-Korean sea border and allegedly preparing to test-launch a missile from its
eastern coast.
"The Lee group has pushed the inter-Korean relations to the phase of total
collapse and driven the situation to the brink of a war during the first year of
its office. This is a thrice-cursed crime against the nation," Rodong Sinmun, the
newspaper of the North's Workers' Party, said.
The North made clear it will not accept Seoul's proposal for dialogue as long as
the Lee government continues its hardline stance. Pyongyang has cut off official
dialogue channels in response to Lee's policy.
"This group can never be the DPRK's dialogue partner as it has persistently
escalated the confrontation, not feeling any guilty conscience, utterly
indifferent to the fate of the inter-Korean relations," the party newspaper said
in an English language commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency. DPRK
stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
Uriminzokkiri, the North's official website, compared Lee to past military
rulers, giving detailed accounts of the use of water cannons, batons and shields
by police during street protests last year, mass candlelight vigils against U.S.
beef imports and a squatters' protest in a redevelopment area.
"Traitor Lee Myung-bak's first year in office were days of treason against the
Korean people marked by his sycophancy toward the United States and the era of
darkness notorious for his extreme fascist dictatorial rule," the website said in
a commentary titled "Who the Fascist Dictator Is."
South Korea, however, blamed the North's hardline stance for the deterioriating
inter-Korean ties and said it will continue to propose dialogue to Pyongyang.
"The South's policy on North Korea is not the cause of the chill in relations.
The cause is the North's hardline position towards the South," Unification
Minister Hyun In-taek was quoted as saying at a meeting with leaders of the
ruling Grand National Party.
North Korea has warned that it will no more respect inter-Korean peace accords
and will "thoroughly crush" South Korean troops should they intrude "even one
inch" into its western maritime territory.
Amid military tension and economic woes, cross-border trade declined 19.6 percent
in January from a year earlier to US$113 million, according to ministry data.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)