South Korea to send anti-North Korea leaflets

South Korea's military plans to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border into North Korea, an official has said.

The plan is the latest in a series of punitive measures against North Korea over its recent provocations, Yonhap news agency said.

"The anti-North flyers could be scattered from around March when the wind starts to blow northward," the official said, without elaborating the scale of the leaflet campaign.

The resumption of the psychological warfare -- the first since 2004 -- represents South Korea's determination to put pressure on North Korea for conducting a fourth nuclear test and launching a long-range missile in recent weeks.

North Korea claims its rocket launch was meant to put a satellite into orbit. South Korea, the US and other regional powers view it as a cover for testing its ballistic missile technology, which is banned under the UN resolutions.

Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to halt propaganda warfare along their heavily fortified border in 2004.

Seoul resumed its anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border following Pyongyang's nuclear test in January, blaring messages critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The planned leaflet campaign comes after North Korea sent its propaganda leaflets to South Korea and started its loudspeaker broadcasting against the country along the border.

Separately, North Korean defectors in South Korea and conservative activists have frequently flown anti-Pyongyang leaflets for years to help encourage North Koreans to eventually rise up against the Pyongyang regime.

Pyongyang has bristled at any outside criticism of its leader and has made similar verbal threats against Seoul over leaflets in recent years.