South Korean officials are investigating a report of a massive outbreak of bird flu in North Korea last month.

An Agriculture Ministry official in Seoul said Tuesday that thousands of chickens are known to have died in a chicken processing factory in Pyongyang. He added that the ministry is trying to confirm the report in cooperation with the Unification Ministry.

Even if the report is true, the official said, the outbreak will not affect South Korea because the South has never imported poultry from the North.

Meanwhile, a South Korean trading company that had planned to import poultry from the North this week said it has yet to receive any official notification about the outbreak.

The alleged outbreak has effectively delayed imports from the North for an indefinite period.