South Koreans called President Lee Myung-bak "the Bulldozer" when he plowed into office nearly three years ago with vows to stop coddling North Korea with unconditional aid.
South Korea's spies had information indicating North Korea might attack a front-line island in August, but the intelligence chief dismissed it as a routine threat.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il reportedly met top Chinese leaders in an apparent bid for Beijing's diplomatic and financial support for a succession plan involving his third and youngest son, who is said to be traveling with him.
Choi Jae-sung, an opposition lawmaker in South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee, told The Associated Press that Kim Jong Un was on the trip his father, citing unidentified sources.
