North Korea is planning to send around 12 million propaganda leaflets to South Korea via some 3,000 balloons, state media reported Monday, saying, "The time for retaliatory punishment" is fast approaching.

Iran PressAsia: North Korea has threatened to send propaganda leaflets into the South in retaliation against South Korea's failure to stop North Korean defectors and other activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the communist state despite their 2018 summit agreement banning such activity, reported by Yonhap News Agency.

"Publishing and printing institutions at all levels in the capital city have turned out 12 million leaflets of all kinds reflective of the wrath and hatred of the people from all walks of life," the Korean Central News Agency said.

"Various equipment and means of distributing leaflets, including over 3,000 balloons of various types capable of scattering leaflets deep inside South Korea, have been prepared," it added. "The time for retaliatory punishment is drawing near."

It did not mention when the leaflets will be dispatched, but observers say it will be just a matter of days or timed for Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War.

On Saturday, South Korea's unification ministry voiced regret over North Korea's plan to send leaflets and demand Pyongyang withdraw it immediately, calling it a violation of the inter-Korean summit agreement.

North Korea's United Front Department handling inter-Korean affairs dismissed the call and said that it has no intention to cancel or adjust the leaflet-sending plan, calling the summit agreement a "dead document." State media also disclosed leaflets showing South Korean President Moon Jae-in's face with denigrating rhetoric.

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