By Jun Ji-hye
Two leading presidential candidates blamed each other for the escalating tension following North Korea’s announcement of a plan to launch a long-range rocket between Dec. 10 and 22.
The North’s latest provocation, coming just two weeks before the Dec. 19 presidential election, is generally reckoned as a development that would unite conservative voters behind the ruling party.
Moon Jae-in, the main opposition Democratic United Party’s (DUP), criticized President Lee Myung-bak and the ruling Saenuri Party for their hard-line policy toward the North and its continues threats.
“The rocket launch is a typical example indicating President Lee and Saenuri party’s failure to deal with the North,” said Park Yong-jin, a spokesman of the Moon camp, Monday.
He accused the conservative party of using the North Korean factor as an election tactic, saying, “It is an outdated attitude to take advantage of the North Korean factor.”
Moon has repeatedly said, “There were no military collisions between the two Koreas when late President Roh Moo-hyun was at Cheong Wa Dae. The sinking
of the Cheonan warship and the shelling of Yeongpyeong Island all happened in Lee’s administration.”
The ruling party shot back with a statement.
“It has taken 30 to 50 years for North Korea to develop nuclear weapons and missiles. Especially, they made great progress during the late President Kim Dae-jung and Roh’s regimes. It is absurd to blame Lee’s government for their provocation,” said Ahn Hyung-hwan, a spokesman for the election camp of the Saenuri presidential candidate Park Geun-hye.
Ahn used the concept of pro-North forces to criticize the liberal candidate.
“The opposition has kept saying ‘Seoul needs to soothe Pyongyang,’ and the North has never criticized Moon. We could guess what North Korea’s intention is.”
Presidential candidate Park has called Moon’s capability of handling the inter-Korean issue into question.
“I doubt if a person like him who has been vague toward the Northern Limit Line (NLL) can cope with Pyongyang’s missile threat,” she said during her appearance on the solo televised debate with panel members last week.
Experts view North Korea's attempt to influence South Korea's presidential election as an important factor that can influence voters’ decision on Dec. 19.
“Many think Kim Jong-un’s leadership is unstable. If the North actually launch a rocket ahead of the election, conservative voters will likely be unified,” Yoon Hee-woong, a senior analyst at Korea Society Opinion Institute, said to reporters. “Also, there is a possibility for swing voters to move to a candidate who they think would protect them from the North’s threat.”