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May 19. Park criticized North Korea’s alleged execution of Hyon Yong-chol during the address. (Yonhap News)

South and North are ratcheting up their potshots against each other’s leaders.

The escalating rhetoric could spell trouble for planned joint events to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration and the 70th anniversary of Korean independence.

From the South, President Park Geun-hye herself took center stage on May 19. Speaking in a celebratory address at the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul, Park declared that North Korea “has recently raised military tensions with its test launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), and shocked the international community with its politics of terror, purging even some of [leader Kim Jong-un’s] closest associates on the inside.”

It was the second time Park targeted Kim over the issue, after remarks made on May 15.

Park also said that “solving the North’s nuclear and missile issues and guiding it toward reforms and openness is an important key to peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia.”

Meanwhile, North Korea continued with a second straight day of extreme rhetoric against Park, this time referring to her as an “old hag” and “political whore.”

“Park Geun-hye’s disgusting behavior is the dying throes of an old madwoman crazed with hostility toward her own people,” read an editorial that day in Uriminzokkiri, North Korea‘s online outlet for South Korea propaganda.

“Her actions and their constant provocation have cost rare good opportunities to improve inter-Korean relations,” it added.

Meanwhile, preparations for the June 15 and Independence Day event came to a dead halt. North Korea did not answer the South Korean preparatory committee’s proposal to hold a working-level meeting in Kaesong on May 19-20.

“Kim Jong-un comes out looking like he lacks experience and just vents his emotions without any kind of political judgment, while Park Geun-hye looks like she has no strategy, criticizing the North and then calling for dialogue,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

“The two leaders are both alike in the way they’re deepening the gulf of distrust between North and South Korea,” he added.

At the same time, Yang said the situation was not entirely bleak.

“Given the low stature of the channels the North used for its denunciations - a statement from a national association of labor groups spokesperson yesterday, and a web site today - there may still be a chance it will go back to calling for dialogue,” he said.

On May 20, North Korea rescinded a visit invitation to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Ban said during a speech at the Seoul Digital Forum that no reason was given for the cancellation, which he found “very regrettable”. Ban would have been the first UN Secretary General to visit the complex since it opened in 2004.

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

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