N. Korea attempts to intervene in S. Korean election

North Korea on Saturday openly called for an opposition victory in South Korea's upcoming presidential election, accusing President Lee Myung-bak's conservative government of ruining inter-Korean relations.

The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a powerful party organization, denounced South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party as a "disaster" that brews "all sources of misfortune" for Koreans.

"If Saenuri Party, a group of obsolete conservatives, takes the office, it would make the South Korean society and inter-Korean relations the same as that under the Lee Myung-bak administration," the committee said in a statement. "It is apparent that (its election win) would bring fascist suppression and war."

The statement was carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a report, monitored in Seoul.

With the South's presidential election nearing, North Korea's propaganda outlets have recently stepped up their rhetoric against South Korea's ruling camp and its presidential contender, Park Geun-hye.

The 60-year-old Park, who aspires to become South Korea's first female president, has been in a tight race with Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and software mogul-turned-independent politician Ahn Cheol-soo.

There are speculations that the two male contenders may form an alliance before the election to boost their chances against Park.

Park's late father and former President Park Chung-hee is a rallying point for South Korean conservatives ahead of the Dec. 19 election.

"Saenuri Party has pushed for deceptive 'national unity', 'reform', and 'differentiation' from the Lee Myung-bak government," the North's committee said, calling it "ugly."

Inter-Korean relations have soured as Lee's government has tightened its policy toward the North, linking aid to progress in the communist country's denuclearization pledge. (Yonhap News)