N.K. media's anti-Lee rhetoric drops 40 pct in July

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's bashing of South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak waned in July compared to two previous months, according to a
government count on Friday.

The number of North Korean media reports and commentaries critical of Lee
amounted to 275 last month, down approximately 40 percent from 454 in June,
according to the Unification Ministry.
The number is also less than 333 in May, but slightly higher compared to the 207
in April.
Ministry officials, however, did not read too much into the changes, saying that
the figures in the preceding months were unusually high following North Korea's
second nuclear test in late May and a string of missile tests in the following
weeks.
"The critical views toward the South were fewer compared to a temporary spike
following the nuclear and other military provocations in May and June," an
official said.
Criticisms against the South Korean government also dropped to four from 23 in
May and 13 in June, according to the ministry.
The relation between the two Korea has been virtually severed after Lee took
office in February last year with a vow to link cross-border rapprochement with
North Korean denuclearization efforts.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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