North Korea ratcheted up its rhetoric against President Lee Myung-bak Saturday, in an apparent bid to impact the April 11 general election.

The Lee government has been seen as tough on North Korea over military provocation and food aid issues.

“The South Korean people will have to sternly punish Lee Myung-bak and his groups who are behind all the misfortunes and disasters,” the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland was quoted by the Korea Central News Agency as saying.

The committee, which routinely releases hostile statements directed at the South or the U.S., said the collision between democratic, reformist forces and conservative forces in the South has become fierce as the April 11 parliamentary election approaches.

It said the conservative forces in the South are “engaging in a sly scheme” to attack their rivals by labeling them as “pro-North” groups who support improved inter-Korean relations and reunification.

The South Korean government sees the North’s move as a way to drive an ideological wedge between conservatives and progressives in the South and influence the vote in the general election in April.

The South’s Unification Ministry has been working on countermeasures to prevent the North from trying to interfere with South Korean politics since early March. As election day nears, Pyongyang is scaling up Seoul-bashing rhetoric through diverse media outlets.

The North recently criticized the South for “shifting” the public sentiment toward hard-line policies on the North, saying Seoul’s hosting of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit was part of an anti-North Korea scheme.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)