N. Korean paper attacks S. Korean leader

PYONGYANG, North Korea, April 1 (UPI) -- North Korea Tuesday bitterly attacked South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's conservative government, calling it a U.S. sycophant.

In a 2,100-word commentary, the Rodong Sinmun, the main organ of the country's communist government, said, "The Lee Myung-bak regime … is becoming undisguised in its sycophancy toward the United States and confrontation with (North Korea), blatantly swimming against the trend of the era of independent reunification."

The commentary comes in the wake of recent aggressive moves by Pyongyang including last week's test-firing of several missiles into the Yellow Sea. Earlier, responding to Lee's hard-line policies, the North expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial park located north of the two countries' heavily guarded border.

Recent reports have said Lee plans to take a tougher stand on inter-Korean cooperation which would include the North making progress in the stalled six-party denuclearization talks.

The commentary said South Korea's use of such sophism as "complete settlement of the North's nuclear issue" is an effort "to overturn all" that has been achieved between the two countries.

Calling Lee "a conservative political charlatan," the report said South Korea's conservative forces are also "getting frantic with war exercises for invading the North … in collusion with outside forces."

The commentary said if Lee opts for confrontation, North Korea "will have no option but to change its approach toward the South."