SEOUL ( 2008-04-01 09:55:23 ) :
North Korea on Tuesday launched its first verbal attack on South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak since he took office, saying his tougher policy towards Pyongyang would have 'catastrophic consequences.'
The lengthy and vitriolic attack, describing Lee, who took office in late February, as a US sycophant and a traitor, comes as tensions are rising between the two nations.
"Lee Myung-Bak should not misjudge the patience and silence so far kept by the DPRK (North Korea)," declared a commentary in Rodong Sinmun, newspaper of the ruling communist party.
"The Lee regime will be held fully accountable for the irrevocable catastrophic consequences to be entailed by the freezing of inter-Korean relations and the disturbance of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula due to its sycophancy towards the US and its moves for confrontation with the north."
On Sunday the North's official media claimed that Seoul was planning a preemptive military strike and threatened to turn South Korea into "ashes" if it went ahead.
In the past six days the North has expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial complex, test-fired missiles, accused Seoul of breaching a disputed sea border and threatened to suspend all dialogue.
Seoul media reports say sorties by the North's jet fighters have also increased near the heavily fortified border.
The commentary on Tuesday was carried in a 2,100-word report on the Korean Central News Agency.
It expressed anger at Lee's tougher stance on cross-border relations, especially his decision to link long-term economic aid to progress in nuclear disarmament and to raise the North's human rights record.
