North Korea sends a warning to South Korea, saying the military is ready to strike if more drones appear

North Korea announced on Sunday that its military was ready to attack South Korea, after its southern neighbor flew to Pyongyang and dropped leaflets.

The Associated Press reported that South Korea refused to confirm whether it sent drones to North Korea but warned that it would punish North Korea if South Koreans were threatened.

According to North Korea, South Korea flew over its country three times and dropped propaganda leaflets over the capital of Pyongyang. North Korean officials have warned if it happens again, they will respond with force.

State media on Sunday reported that the North’s Defense Ministry said its military had issued an operational order for artillery and other units near the South Korean border to be ready to “open fire.”

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An anonymous ministry spokesman said the North Korean military has ordered units to be fully prepared for situations where they may need to launch immediate strikes against unspecified enemy targets, if South Korea sends drones across the border again, according to the statement.

The spokesman also said “there are serious military tensions on the Korean Peninsula” because of the South’s airstrikes.

In another statement on Sunday, the spokesman said South Korea “could turn into heaps of ashes” after North Korea’s heavy-handed attack.

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In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, directs a live-fire drill in North Korea on March 7, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

North Korea is no stranger to issuing fiery rhetoric when tensions between it and South Korea and the US run high.

Relations between North and South Korea have been strained since the collapse of the US-led plan to denuclearize North Korea in 2019.

Since then, North Korea has continued to increase its nuclear arsenal and has also threatened to attack South Korea and the US with nuclear weapons.

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Balloons are seen at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee ​​Jin-man)

However, experts say it is unlikely that North Korea will launch an all-out attack because the US and South Korean forces outnumber the North’s forces.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build forward defense structures to deal with “conflicts” between South Korean and American forces.

Last month, North Korea launched more than 160 balloons carrying garbage over the southern border.

Inside the balloons were paper, plastic bottles and other household waste, which was found in parts of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital city of Seoul.

At the beginning of September, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea said that it found about 420 balloons that the North allegedly brought to South Korea.

The pile of trash is the latest tit-for-tat between the two Koreas, who have been using Cold War tactics since earlier this year, when the North flew thousands of balloons into the South, filled with discarded paper, scraps of cloth, cigarette butts and even compost.

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North Korea says the balloons are in retaliation for South Korean activists distributing anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.

Debris carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said the balloon contained no hazardous materials and no one was injured.

South Korea retaliated by using loudspeakers to blast propaganda messages and K-pop songs towards the North.

Bradford Betz of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.