SEOUL, The ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Tuesday denounced North Korea's latest missile launch as a scheme aimed at driving a wedge in South Korean society ahead of next week's parliamentary elections. The comments came hours after the North fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea, in an apparent show of force that came about a week before South Korea is due to hold general elections on April 10. "It's a scheme aimed at stirring up a conflict within the South by creating inter-Korean military tensions with the elections just around the corner," Park Jung-ha, the PPP spokesperson for the party's central election campaign committee said in a commentary. "We should be vigilant about the growing possibility in the future that the North might escalate its provocations aiming to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula in terms of intensity and frequency," Park said. Park also took note of Russia's veto last week on extending a U.N. mandate on an expert panel for monitori ng North Korean sanctions, saying that it has resulted in an effective void of international monitoring on its nuclear and missile development. "Our military will protect the people and ensure their safety based on the firm South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture," he said. "The North should bear in mind that continued provocations will only lead to international isolation and bring about the end of the regime." Source: Yonhap News Agency