North Korea's military on Friday stepped up threats against the launching of leaflets from South Korea which criticise its regime, vowing to open fire at any place at any time.
The military said in a statement that launch sites have been changed since its earlier threats to open fire across the border against the "smear campaign".
"Under this situation, our army officially informs the south side that it will expand the scope of direct fire, already declared, into full-scale destruction fire at any area anytime," it said.
Previously, the North's military had threatened to open fire on certain places such as Imjingak, a tourist site near the border where leaflets are often launched by defectors and other opponents of Pyongyang's regime.
Bundles of tens of thousands of the flyers are slung under large helium-filled balloons, with a timing device attached to scatter them north of the heavily-fortified border.
Activists also send DVDs and one-dollar notes to induce North Koreans to pick up the leaflets despite the risk of punishment.
But the activists have faced opposition from some local residents near the launch sites, who fear attracting retaliatory fire. Scuffles broke out at one venue last week.
"Leaflet-scattering is a form of psychological warfare and it is just a clear-cut war provocation," the statement said, according to the communist state's official news agency.
It said the North's military delivered the message to the South's troops.
Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University said the North's comment was aimed at stirring up further opposition in South Korea to leaflet launches.
Activists launched some 300,000 anti-regime leaflets across the border on April 15 as the North celebrated the 99th anniversary of the birth of its founding father Kim Il-Sung.
The leaflets denounced the North's three-generation succession and carried news of uprisings against despotic rulers in the Arab world.
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