The North Korean regime in a rare move Thursday warned people against South Korean propaganda leaflets and started cracking down on residents who keep them.

State-run TV and radio said Thursday, "Psychological warfare schemes by military warmongers in the South have reached a peak," and accused South Korea of "dragging conservative groups into Baeknyeong Island to send hundreds of thousands" of propaganda leaflets "laden with USBs of impure movies and tattered dollar bills."

A South Korean intelligence official said it seems the regime feels it can no longer take a low-key approach to dealing with the propaganda leaflets at a time when a wave of democratic uprising is sweeping through the Middle East.