North Korea has blasted South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s invitation for the North's leader Kim Jong-il to attend an international nuclear summit in Seoul next year, calling it a “provocative remark.”

A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland rejected Lee's invitation in an interview with the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday. He claimed that Lee’s offer to invite the North Korean leader was a sinister scheme for confrontation, calling him a traitor.

The spokesman also denounced the South’s demand for an apology for the sinking of the Cheonan naval vessel and artillery attacks on Yeonpyeong Island. He claimed that the South’s demand for the North’s denuclearization was a plot to disarm and invade North Korea jointly with the United States.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Unification Ministry expressed deep regret over the North’s response, and urged the North to show sincerity to improve inter-Korean relations.

President Lee said during a stop in Berlin on Tuesday that he would invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to attend the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul if Kim makes a commitment for denuclearization.