DPRK lashes ROK president's 'warmongering'

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) accused Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Myung-bak of drumming up war hysteria, the official news agency KCNA reported Saturday.

The report said Lee on Thursday toured a research institute, where he watched videos of the launch of ROK-developed missiles, bragged about the ROK's missile capacity and called for "punishment and a precision strike against the DPRK."

"If the south Korean warmongers make even a rustling sound, the armed forces of the DPRK will eradicate the rats and take hold of the land of the southern part of Korea," a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea was quoted as saying.

An army-people rally was held Friday in the capital city, during which a Korean People's Army Supreme Command statement denouncing the Lee government was read out at Kim Il Sung Square. Similar demonstrations have followed in provinces and cities nationwide.