N. Korea reports on South’s presidential election

SEOUL: North Korean state media reported the election of the South’s new left-leaning president Moon Jae-In after a two- day delay, but at unusual length.

The official Korean Central News Agency ( KCNA) put out a four-sentence report late Thursday on the victory of Moon, who calls for dialogue, along with sanctions and pressure, to curb the North’s nuclear ambitions.

“Mun Jae-In was elected to be the 19th-term ‘ president’ with 41 per cent voting rate,” it said, using the McCune-Reischauer transliteration system that is standard in North Korea.

That contrasted with its onesentence Korean-language report of the election of Moon’s conservative predecessor Park Geun-Hye in 2012, which did not mention her name or her support.

“A candidate from the Saenuri Party was elected president in the south with a razor-thin margin,” that dispatch read in full.

The North did not report the victory of the South’s previous president Lee Myung-Bak at all.

Moon was part of the South’s last liberal government, which pursued a ‘Sunshine policy’ of reconciliation and dialogue with the North, and is widely expected to shift away Park’s hardline approach.

Park’s term ended early when she was impeached for corruption and abuse of power, and KCNA said: “The election took place before the expiry of the previous regime as traitor Park Geun Hye was dismissed from office under the unanimous demand of the South Koreans for committing the unprecedented crimes in the history of politics of South Korea.” — AFP