SEOUL - North Korea's government newspaper has poured scorn on US President George W. Bush over the Baghdad shoe-throwing incident, saying the outgoing leader deserved it.

In a commentary entitled 'Well-Deserved Insult,' Minju Chosun said on Thursday it was fortunate that Mr Bush had been able to duck the flying footwear.

'Otherwise, he would have had his face printed with the dirty shoe soles,' it said in an article seen on Friday on a media website operated by the communist state.

An Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at Bush at a press conference on Sunday during the US leader's farewell visit to the country, in an incident that became an instant sensation in the Arab world.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, protesting at the US invasion and occupation of his country, shouted: 'It is the farewell kiss, you dog.'

Mr Bush dodged the shoes and Mr Muntazer was arrested.

The North Korean paper said Mr Bush tried to put a brave face on the incident.

But it likened his demeanour to 'a cock soaked in the rain' - a reference to a Korean proverb describing a person who suddenly falls from high status to shame.

Minju Chosun added: 'It was folly for Bush to appear recklessly for a press conference aimed at trying to win favour from Iraqis in a country where anti-US sentiment is reaching the sky.

'The US power-holder subjected himself to greater disgrace as he attempted to embellish his failed policy in Iraq. It is unnecessary to add he was showered with derision and laughter.'

North Korean state media routinely heap scorn on the Bush administration and its 'war on terror'. Mr Bush in turn described the North in 2002 as part of an 'axis of evil' and once said he loathed its leader Kim Jong-Il. -- AFP