This image, released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Oct. 11, shows a purported drone (in large circle) and a pack of leaflets (in small circle) that Pyongyang claims were sent by South Korea. Yonhap

North Korea's news media reported Saturday the reclusive regime's claim that South Korea sent unmanned drones carrying anti-North propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, as well as the country's state radio and TV, reported the news by carrying a statement from the regime's foreign ministry issued the previous day.

It is unusual for North Korea to publicize the South's sending of anti-North propaganda leaflets in its news outlets largely aimed at local citizens. It has, however, often used the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), its foreign news outlet, to criticize such moves.

The Rodong Sinmun and Korean Central TV showed images of unmanned drones spotted in the night skies over Pyongyang and anti-North leaflets allegedly dropped from the flights. The images were first distributed by the KCNA the previous day.

The decision to publicize the foreign ministry's statement to North Korean citizens, despite implications of potential issues with Pyongyang's air defense, seems to be aimed at justifying leader Kim Jong-un's characterization of inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other" late last year.

Some analysts suggest that the disclosure could be a strategic move to stir up anti-South Korean sentiment among its population, paving the way for a possible constitutional amendment supporting the two-state theory.

On Friday, the foreign ministry statement claimed that South Korean drones carrying leaflets were detected in the night skies over Pyongyang, Oct. 3, as well as Wednesday and Thursday of this week, and threatened to respond with force if such flights occur again.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, however, said he could not confirm the North's claim. (Yonhap)