North Korean media takes stab at South's president on eve of elections

[April 09, 2024]  By Josh Smith
 
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's state-controlled media has called President Yoon Suk Yeol of its neighbor South Korea a "fascist dictator" and a "warmonger" a day before elections that will determine the makeup of parliament, currently dominated by Yoon's opponents.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol casts his early vote for 22nd parliamentary election, in Busan, South Korea, April 5, 2024. Yonhap via REUTERS/ File Photo

Reports carried by North Korea's official KCNA news agency described the South as being "engulfed" in protests, adding that "popular resistance to impeach puppet Yoon Suk Yeol is growing by the day."

"In puppet Korea, the enthusiasm of all walks of life for the destruction of Yoon Suk Yeol's puppet party is intensifying," KCNA said on Tuesday.

Analysts say the results of the election, which will not affect Yoon's five-year term in office, are unlikely to result in major changes to South Korea's foreign policy.

Some labor groups have held protests against Yoon, but they are nothing like the widespread demonstrations that led to the downfall of the last conservative president, Park Geun-hye, in 2017 over corruption charges.

Yoon's hardline policies toward Pyongyang have riled the North, which is ruled by leader Kim Jong Un.

Earlier this year, North Korea changed its policies to effectively treat the South as a separate, enemy state, with Kim saying that peaceful reunification was impossible. He also ordered his military to be prepared to pacify and occupy the South in the event of a crisis.

Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a stalemate, both nations have had policies that treat each other differently than other countries. That has included relying on special agencies and ministries for inter-Korean relations and embracing policies for a future peaceful reunification.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; editing by Miral Fahmy)

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