ROK urges DPRK to halt slandering

SEOUL - South Korea on Monday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to immediately halt slandering in a response to Pyongyang's  latest peace overture.

At a routine press conference, Unification Ministry Kim Eui-do said that the DPRK should make an immediate end to hurling invectives to South Korea, noting that it needs not to wait until the Lunar New Year's Day.

Earlier Monday, the DPRK's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun reiterated its call for South Korea to accept its peace overture, denouncing Seoul's negative response to its call for ending hostilities.

Last week, the DPRK made a peace call to South Korea, calling for an end to "all acts of provoking and slandering the other side " and "all hostile military acts" from the Lunar New Year's Day that falls on January 31 this year.

Pyongyang also urged Seoul to abandon its joint military exercises with the United States scheduled from late February to April.

In response, South Korea expressed regrets over the DPRK's fresh appeal Friday, saying that it was the DPRK that violated the agreement to stop the inter-Korean mudslinging. Seoul confirmed that the joint military drills will be conducted as scheduled, noting that it is an annual, regular military exercise of defensive nature.

Last year, the US Air Force's B-2 stealth bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, carried out its first-ever firing drill in South Korea during the joint exercises. The US military deployed other nuclear-capable weapons such as B-52 bombers and submarine USS Cheyenne during the drills with South Korea.