SEOUL, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - South Korea's defence ministry on Wednesday urged North Korea to halt its verbal attacks on the Seoul government, one day after the communist state called President Lee Myung-Bak a 'traitor.'

It was Seoul's first official reaction to a series of recent hostile moves and rhetoric by Pyongyang.

The ministry said in a statement that it sent a radio message to the North's chief representative to inter-Korean military talks, Lieutenant-General Kim Yong-Chol.

It said the North was deliberately misinterpreting Seoul's objectives and remarks by its officials.

'Our side has sincerely upheld the non-aggression agreement between the South and the North, and this position will not change in the future,' Seoul's chief delegate to the military dialogue, Major-General Kwon Oh-Sung, said in the message.