File photo: CGTN

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will soon distribute 12 million leaflets to the Republic of Korea (ROK) "to make them pay dearly for their crime", the official Korean Central News Agency reported Monday.

"As of June 22, various equipment and means of distributing leaflets, including over 3,000 balloons of various types capable of scattering leaflets deep inside the ROK, have been prepared," and 12 million leaflets of all kinds have been printed out, the report said.

"The preparations for the largest-ever distribution of leaflets against the enemy are almost complete," the report said, adding that "the time for retaliatory punishment is drawing near."

Recently, Pyongyang has cut off all communication lines with Seoul and blown up the liaison office building near the border with the ROK in protest against the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets by defectors and other activists in the South.