SEOUL: North Korea is eager to sway South Korea’s upcoming presidential election, staging a series of reconciliation events to boost support for the liberal camp and heaping abuse on a rightwing candidate.

But in contrast to previous elections, most voters in the South just don’t seem especially interested in their nuclear-armed neighbour.

For decades, North Korea was a factor in South Korean politics. President Roh Moo-Hyun won support in 2002 from young voters who backed his “sunshine” engagement policy with Pyongyang.

“No more. Many voters here do not regard North Korea as an important election topic,” Sungkyunkwan University political science professor Mah Insub said.

Leader Kim Jong-Il invited Roh to Pyongyang for a rare summit in October and agreed on a series of rapprochement projects.

High-profile visits by top North Korean officials followed. A cross-border train service started this week for the first time in more than half a century.

But the exchanges have failed to help the liberal pro-government camp because many South Koreans already feel relaxed about inter-Korean relations and are concerned with bread-and-butter issues, Mah said.

Analysts say both leaders used the summit to try to win support for the liberals, a charge Roh denied.

“Roh should have been praised for a successful summit with Kim but his stunt backfired or did not help the liberal camp,” Mah said.

In contrast to 2002, a survey last month showed 24 per cent of voters believe employment is the main election issue. Only about five per cent termed North Korea the key issue.

“The summit reflected the North’s intention to sway the outcome of this year’s election,” said Dongguk University political science professor Park Myung-Ho.

“But the ruling camp’s drive to use North Korea for its campaign is not working.” The North appears to be reading the signs. State media has dropped verbal attacks on GNP candidate Lee Myung-Bak, widely tipped to win the Dec 19 election.

Instead it focuses its venom on rightwing independent Lee Hoi-Chang, who has the toughest policy on the North.

The North now believes relations will stabilise after a year-long adjustment even if the GNP’s Lee wins, he said.

The two conservative candidates cite North Korea’s denuclearisation as a precondition for economic cooperation.

But Lee pledges to help the North raise per capita income to $3,000 in 10 years if it opens up to the outside, and envisions an inter-Korean economic cooperation complex in a western border area. However, he vows to press the North on human rights.

“We cannot look the other way on the human rights issue on the pretext of avoiding damaging inter-Korean relations,” he said.

Lee Hoi-Chang insists Seoul should stop sending aid until Pyongyang completely dismantles its nuclear programme. He also wants Pyongyang to deal with sensitive issues like human rights.—AFP