North Korea has ordered artillery units near its border to prepare to open fire. 

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported Sunday that the instructions were given the previous day. 

Citing a spokesperson for the North's general staff department, the state-run news agency said eight artillery brigades had been instructed to assume a readiness posture by 8 p.m. Sunday to shoot down any South Korean drones that cross the border.

The KCNA said the North Korean military is also preparing for the possibility of an armed conflict in the event that its artillery units shoot down any unmanned aerial vehicles from South Korea. 

Earlier Sunday, South Korea warned that North Korea will face "the end of its regime" if it causes any harm to the South’s people.

The South's warning came in response to a statement from Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who threatened a "horrible disaster" in response to alleged South Korean drone flights over the North’s capital.

North Korea's foreign ministry said Friday that South Korean drones carrying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets were detected in the skies over Pyongyang on Oct. 3, 9 and 10.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun initially denied the allegation, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff later said only that it could not confirm the North’s claim was true.