North Korea to hold live-fire drills near South Korean border

This will be North Korea's second live-fire drill in just over a month.

According to Yonhap, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that on April 29, North Korea announced that it would hold a live-fire drill near the maritime border between the two countries.

The Southwestern Command of the Korean People's Army sent a fax to the South Korean Second Naval Fleet on the morning of April 29 to inform the South Korean fleet about the above-mentioned exercise in the border area in the Yellow Sea, north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL). However, the North Korean side did not give a specific time for the above-mentioned exercise.

South Korean people watch North Korea's military exercises (AP Photo)

“Although the exercise took place north of the NLL, the South Korean military has taken measures to ensure the safety of its citizens, including controlling civilian vessels,” JCS spokesman Eom Hyo-sik said.

“The South Korean military will respond strongly if North Korean artillery shells fall on this side of the NLL under South Korean control,” Eom Hyo-sik said.

The South Korean military has also stepped up defenses to prevent the possibility of conflict, especially considering Pyongyang's moves in the latest drill, the JCS said.

Previously, North Korea conducted an artillery drill on March 31 in the same area while the US and South Korea were conducting annual joint exercises.

The exercise raised tensions between the two Koreas, and both countries repeatedly fired artillery shells into each other's waters after some North Korean shell fragments fell into South Korean waters.

This upcoming exercise by North Korea is to protest the joint statement of US President Barrack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye during Obama's visit to South Korea last week.

In the statement, both leaders warned that any provocative action by North Korea would further isolate the country./.

According to VOV