(LEAD) N. Korea warns of military action over leaflets

(ATTN: RECASTS lead paras with N. Korea's new statement on leaflets; CHANGES headline)

SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned Thursday of further military measures against the cross-border scattering of propaganda leaflets by South Korean activists, saying their campaign risked putting inter-Korean ties into an "unrecoverable" state.

In a statement, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland sharply criticized the South's government for doing little to block the leaflets.

"As shown in a recent incident, leaflet scattering is an extremely dangerous act that could bring about a war as well as the failure of north-south relations," it said.

It was referring to the North's firing on balloons filled with anti-Pyongyang leaflets after they were flown from a border area earlier this month. Some of the rounds landed in the South's territory.

The committee claimed that it's natural for the North to "take stern military countermeasures against the act of spreading leaflets, which is acknowledged as an act of war by international law."

It accused the South's authorities of making the dishonest excuse that they have no legal means to block such civilian campaigns.

A group of conservative activists said they would send leaflets critical of the North's leadership and system into the North from Imjingak, a park near the border, on Saturday.

Pyongyang's latest statement came hours after the South Korean government reiterated that it is legally unable to take any forcible step with regard to the leaflet campaign.

Those opposed to the spread of leaflets via balloons have argued that the legislation may provide a legal ground to tackle it. The law bans any unauthorized flight in the Demilitarized Zone and other controlled areas.

But the transpiration ministry, which is in charge of the matter, concluded that the legislation can't be applied to the activists' actions, according to an unification ministry official

"The large-sized balloons used to scatter the leaflets don't have any device for land-based control, meaning they are not considered ultra-small flight apparatuses," the official told reporters on background.

The North has been increasingly sensitive to those leaflets largely condemning and ridiculing the North's leader Kim Jong-un and his wife.

It is a pretext for North Korea to avoid agreed-upon high-level talks with South Korea.

In a statement issued Wednesday night, the North's delegation to the talks demanded the South first take measures against the leaflet scattering.

The unification ministry reiterated its call for the North to resume dialogue.

"We reaffirm our position that all issues between the South and the North should be resolved through dialogue," the official said.

The North should stop its unilateral claim aimed at justifying its recent provocative acts near the border and abide by bilateral agreements, he added.

During an Oct. 4 trip by the North's top-level delegation to the South, the two sides agreed to hold another round of vice ministerial talks between late October and early November.

Last week, the South made an offer for talks on Oct. 30, but the North has not responded to it.

Although the North's delegation, led by the communist nation's top military official, Hwang Pyong-so, made the promise just in words, it is a de-facto formal deal between the two Koreas, the ministry official pointed out.

lcd@yna.co.kr

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