The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has confirmed a reported outbreak of bird influenza in North Korea but says it has not affected South Korea.

The ministry said, however, that because of the geographical proximity of the two Koreas, there is a possibility of contagion. Correspondingly, it plans to strengthen quarantine measures in the Dorasan and Gosung areas, where a number of inter-Korean exchanges take place, as well as indefinitely postpone imports of North Korean poultry.

A ministry official said Monday that there have been no reported cases of bird flu in the South as of last month and that, considering the absence of imported poultry from the North, bird flu has yet to hit the South.

Along with beefed-up quarantine measures, the official said the government has also strengthened the monitoring of personnel coming and going between the two Koreas to keep the outbreak at bay.