North Korea renews calls for halt to slander

North Korea pressed South Korea Monday to accept its latest conciliatory overture amid simmering tensions on the Korean Peninsula over Seoul's upcoming joint military drills with Washington. "The South Korean authorities should dispel prejudice and unnecessary suspicion toward their compatriots to salvage North-South relations," said the North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun. The propaganda newspaper also called on South Korea to halt all slander, calling it a first step toward improving inter-Korean relations. The comments came three days after South Korea rejected North Korea's overture that called for, among other things, the cancellation of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States scheduled to run from late February through April. Last week, the North's powerful National Defense Commission called for an end to all slander between the sides to mark the Lunar New Year as it dangled the prospect of reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Lunar New Year's Day, celebrated by both Koreas, falls on Jan. 31 this year. South Korea has said it is North Korea that has frequently criticized South Korea, not the other way around. "The North should immediately halt slander, instead of waiting until the Lunar New Year," said Kim Eui-do, spokesman for the unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs. Last year, the North denounced South Korean President Park Geun-hye for her "venomous swish of skirt." Its National Defense Commission also accused Park of being a "despicable sycophant and traitor."    North Korea did not elaborate on what it meant by slander, but it may include anti-Pyongyang leaflets some North Korean defectors and conservative activists frequently send to North Korea via balloons. The North has bristled at any outside criticism of its leader and has made several military threats against the South over leaflets in recent years.